The Democratic Party of Korea will process the confirmation plan for Chief Justice Cho Hee-da exclusively at the National Assembly's Legislative and Judiciary Committee on the 7th. The Supreme Court unusually expedited the handling of the public official election law violation case against presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, leading to the claim that it interfered in the presidential election. The title is 'Hearing on the Investigation of Judicial Coup by Chief Justice Cho Hee-da Regarding Election Interference.'
A legislative committee official said during a currency on the 6th, "We plan to hold a full committee meeting tomorrow afternoon to approve the confirmation plan for Cho Hee-da," adding, "The chairperson has instructed the administrative office to prepare an agenda and details to summon the Chief Justice." Generally, the convening of standing committees and agendas are decided by consensus between the ruling and opposition parties; however, due to difficulties in obtaining consent from the People Power Party, the committee chairperson Jeong Cheong-rae plans to present and process the agenda by his authority.
According to the National Assembly Witness Examination Law, the witness summons must be delivered at least seven days before the hearing. After processing the agenda exclusively by the Democratic Party of Korea on the 7th, the hearing is expected to be held on the 14th of this month. This is one day before the first trial of the Supreme Court's retrial, scheduled for the 15th. While reviewing the impeachment proposal against Chief Justice Cho and 10 other Supreme Court justices, they aim to lead public opinion through the hearing.
Prior to this, the legislative committee will hold a subcommittee meeting on the morning of the same day to review an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act that centers on 'suspension of criminal trial procedures upon presidential election victory.' It involves establishing a clause in current law stating, 'When a defendant is elected president, the court must suspend trial proceedings from the date of election until the end of term.' This amendment was mainly proposed by lawmaker Kim Yong-min, who is the floor leader of the Democratic Party.
Article 84 of the Constitution states the privilege of presidential immunity from prosecution for the incumbent president. However, there is disagreement within academia and the legal community regarding whether this provision applies to ongoing trials. The candidate is currently facing five trials, including violations of the public official election law retrial, allegations of corruption in the Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong development projects, and charges of witness tampering. With the increased likelihood of taking office, they aim to change the law to eliminate controversy.
The Democratic Party of Korea also urged that all trial dates for candidate Lee, set during the election campaign period, be postponed until after the presidential election. Yoon Ho-jung, the general election committee head, stated during a press briefing the previous day that both the retrial scheduled for the 15th and all trial dates set from the official start of the election campaign (12th) should also be postponed until after the presidential election. He noted that if the judiciary rejects this, they will mobilize all available means, such as impeachment, hearings, and national investigations.
The impeachment of high court judges is also under consideration. If the postponement of the retrial schedule is not accepted, they will proceed with the impeachment of the presiding judge responsible for the retrial at the high court. Yoon remarked, "We clearly express our intent to explicitly hinder the proceedings and trials at the high court," adding, "If there are those who obstruct this, we regard it as blocking the exercise of the people's sovereignty, and the legislative branch will punish them on behalf of the people."