Lawmakers in the broader ruling camp, including the Democratic Party of Korea, are pushing to introduce an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Jo Hee-de. They plan to persuade other lawmakers individually to meet the quorum needed to introduce the impeachment motion against the chief justice.
Kim Byung-joo, Min Hyung-bae, Lee Sung-yun, and Cho Kye-won of the Democratic Party of Korea; Kim Jun-hyung of the Rebuilding Korea Party; and independent Choi Hyuk-jin held a press conference at the National Assembly's briefing room the same day, formalizing the introduction of an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Jo by saying, "We will stop here a chief justice who reigns above the Constitution."
They said, "On behalf of the legislature, we will introduce an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Jo and fulfill the National Assembly's responsibility to uphold the constitutional order," adding, "The Jo Hee-de judiciary is directly shaking Korea's democracy and constitutional order, protected by the 'revolution of light.'"
The grounds for impeachment of Chief Justice Jo cited by them are, in connection with President Lee Jae-myung's Public Official Election Act case, as follows: ▲ undermining basic principles of Supreme Court trial procedure ▲ deviation from the authority of the court of final appeal ▲ damage to political neutrality through an abnormal trial pace ▲ suspicion of prior review through an unofficial body.
Lawmakers in the broader ruling camp said, "Right now Korea's judiciary is seeing its credibility seriously shaken by unprecedented trial speed and procedural violations, deviation from the scope of authority, and suspicions of damage to political neutrality," adding, "If we do not move now to impeach Chief Justice Jo, that would itself be a dereliction of duty by the legislature."
They added, "Introducing an impeachment motion requires the participation of 99 lawmakers. Starting today, we will persuade ruling and opposition lawmakers one by one to introduce the impeachment motion and ensure it passes the plenary session."