The Democratic Party of Korea is reviewing the impeachment of the Seoul High Court judges ahead of the first trial of Lee Jae-myung's Public Official Election Act case, scheduled for the 15th. If requests to suspend the trial or postpone the schedule are not accepted, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Cho Hee-dae, along with 10 Supreme Court justices and the presiding judge handling the trial at the High Court will also face impeachment.
A key official of the Democratic Party noted in a call with ChosunBiz on the 6th that it was "an egregious election intervention" while wearing judicial robes, adding that "it is natural to impeach the Chief Justice, and there are also sufficient grounds for impeaching the presiding judge of the High Court." He further stated, "This is the moment when we need to mobilize the National Assembly's constitutional authority to prevent the High Court trial first." A lawmaker who is a former judge mentioned, "We are watching whether the trial on the 15th will be postponed or when the next date will be set, asserting that if judges schedule the trial before the election, they all become impeachable."
This stance was also expressed during an official meeting the previous day. Yoon Ho-jung, the Deputy Minister overseeing the campaign headquarters, required at a press conference in the National Assembly that all trial dates set before the official election campaign period starting on the 12th, including the Supreme Court trial scheduled for the 15th, should be postponed until after the election. He stated that they should halt all five trials, including the trial regarding the violation of the election law, as well as the alleged corruption in the Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong developments and the perjury guidance allegations.
Yoon stated, "If the trial is not postponed, we will mobilize the full authority of the legislative branch," asserting that he would clearly express the intent to obstruct the High Court's proceedings and trials. He added that if there are those seeking to interfere, it would be regarded as obstructing the exercise of national sovereignty, promising that the legislative branch would punish them on behalf of the people. He also stated, "They will realize that the legislative branch's gavel, which the people delegated, is far stronger than the judicial branch's hammer," indicating that they could also pursue the impeachment of the High Court judges.
On the same day, Jeong Cheong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party and chairman of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, mentioned this during a YouTube broadcast with broadcaster Kim Eo-jun. When Kim said, "There is a saying that if necessary, we should impeach Supreme Court justices, High Court judges, and the Chief Justice," Jeong replied, "Our people have impeached two presidents," suggesting that the Chief Justice would not go unchallenged.
In this situation, concerns about a 'backlash' are limited in number. According to a comprehensive report, during the previous day's general assembly of lawmakers, statements such as "This is not peacetime but wartime" and "We must go all the way for greater appeal to the moderate bloc" were made. There was also an opinion to prepare impeachment motions in advance against Chief Justice Cho and the 10 Justices of the Supreme Court. Most lawmakers, including the leadership, view that this type of sequential impeachment ultimately aligns with Lee's intentions.
One lawmaker present at the assembly stated, "It is the general opinion that this is not the time to calculate 'impeachment = backlash' as in normal circumstances." Responding to the critique that it was excessive to put even the High Court judges, who simply received a random assignment for the trial, on the impeachment list, he remarked, "Court documents are first delivered by mail. There is no case where a bailiff delivers them first," asserting that "the Seoul High Court is applying unreasonable and unfair standards only to Lee."
The Democratic Party is also discussing the possibility of impeaching High Court judges before the trial date of the Supreme Court on the 14th to prepare for the potential of a judgment in absentia. Park Kyun-taek, a member of the campaign's legal support department, stated on the 6th in an MBC radio program, "If Lee does not attend the first trial on the 15th and a judgment in absentia occurs, it would be a serious issue," emphasizing that "opinions within the party strongly support impeaching the assigned judge before the 14th."