The ruling and opposition parties clashed at the Supreme Court's parliamentary audit attended by Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. The Supreme Court requested Cho's departure in keeping with precedent, but National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chairperson Chu Mi-ae proceeded with questions and answers by committee members anyway. The committee began questioning the chief justice without an oath, and confusion followed as Chu said he was a reference witness not obligated to appear.
The Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a parliamentary audit of the Supreme Court at the National Assembly at 10 a.m. on the 13th. The committee had initially planned to adjust witnesses and reference witnesses at a full committee meeting. However, considering that Chief Justice Cho was present, Chairperson Chu proceeded first with the audit of the Supreme Court.
After declaring the audit open, Chairperson Chu said, "Until now, the chief justice has offered greetings at the audit as a matter of practice and then left," adding, "The committee has continuously offered opportunities to explain and demanded answers regarding the alleged presidential election interference case. However, there has been no clear resolution of suspicions and no explanatory materials have been submitted," and demanded that the chief justice answer lawmakers' questions.
In his remarks, Chief Justice Cho signaled his intention to leave, saying, "In a law-governed state with a separation of powers, it is hard to find an example of putting someone on the stand over matters of trial," but Chairperson Chu did not accept it. Instead, she proceeded with the meeting, telling the first questioner, independent lawmaker Choi Hyuk-jin, to begin.
Questioning of the chief justice began without an oath. Under Article 7 of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal Before the National Assembly, a witness must take an oath when testimony or appraisal is requested. When People Power Party members protested, Chairperson Chu said, "Chief Justice Cho is not a witness but a reference witness." Reference witnesses are not obligated to comply with appearance requests from standing committees.
Legislation and Judiciary Committee members from the Democratic Party of Korea pressed for the background behind the remand of President Lee Jae-myung's Public Official Election Act case. Lawmaker Jeon Hyun-hee said, "People are asking why a Supreme Court ruling that intervened in the presidential election was made in record time in the middle of the race," adding, "We are asking whether the justices read the roughly 70,000 pages of case records and whether there was sufficient deliberation."
The People Power Party strongly protested, saying the chief justice should be allowed to leave to protect judicial independence and the separation of powers. Lawmaker Na Kyung-won said, "Not putting the chief justice forward as a witness is a practice set by the principle of separation of powers," adding, "Demanding that he answer Democratic Party lawmakers' questions now amounts to doing something unprecedented in the history of the Republic of Korea's constitutional government."
The Supreme Court side again requested that he be allowed to leave. Court Administration Office Director Chun Dae-yup said, "We debated whether the chief justice should attend today (the 13th), but out of respect for the National Assembly to ensure respect for judicial independence, we decided to proceed with the customary opening and closing remarks by the chief justice at the audit," adding, "Since the 1987 system was established, there has never been a Q&A by the chief justice. We request that Chief Justice Cho be allowed to leave."
As the floor grew noisy, Chairperson Chu declared a suspension of the audit at about 11:43 a.m. Chief Justice Cho left the chamber during the recess and moved to another location. At about 11:50 a.m., Chairperson Chu resumed the parliamentary audit and conducted the witness oath without the chief justice present.