The presidential office said on the 6th that a report claiming it agreed with a push by Democratic Party of Korea leadership candidates to impeach Chief Justice Jo Hee-de was "not true."
Kang Yu-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, said in a notice that day, "The report that the presidential office agrees with the impeachment of the chief justice and with matters related to the chief justice's status is completely untrue."
She added, "In addition, the nomination of a successor Supreme Court justice should proceed quickly under the relevant legal procedures, which is the position of the presidential office."
Earlier, one outlet reported that the presidential office also recognized problems with the push by candidates Kim Min-seok and Song Young-gil, who are running in the Democratic Party of Korea Aug. 17 convention leadership election, to bring an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Jo.
The Democratic Party of Korea argues for impeaching Chief Justice Jo, citing that, ahead of the presidential election in May last year, the Supreme Court quashed and remanded with a guilty-leaning view then-candidate Lee's Public Official Election Act case, and that appointments to succeed former Justice Roh Tae-ak and Justice Lee Heung-gu have been delayed.