If the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is summoned, the President must also appear as a witness... Request for casual attendance

On the 5th, the People Power Party defended Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, saying, "This is the National Assembly's tyranny and abuse of power over the judiciary," when the Democratic Party of Korea fiercely criticized Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae for failing to comply with the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's request to appear as a witness for the state administration audit.

On this day, floor leader Jeong Jeong-sik posted a post on Facebook titled ‘7 reasons why Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae should not appear as a witness for the National Assembly inspection’ and summarized seven reasons why Chief Justice Cho should not appear as a witness for the National Assembly inspection.

The first reason, floor leader Jeong cited the “lack of legitimacy of the attendance request,” emphasized, “It is a request for attendance that lacks legitimacy as a representative organization representing the people due to the unilateral adoption of witnesses by a large ruling party that ignores the agreement between the ruling and opposition parties.”

He also criticized, “Calling the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, one of the three elements, to the National Assembly audit is an act of tyranny and abuse of power by the National Assembly against the judiciary, which violates the separation of powers.” He also criticized, “It is a half-baked attendance request that shifts responsibility for the Blue House’s unconstitutional request for re-submission to the Chief Justice and obscures the essence of the National Assembly audit.”

Floor leader Jeong also cited 'violation of convention' and 'unfairness' as reasons, and emphasized, "There is no precedent for calling the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as a general witness for the National Assembly inspection, and if the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is called as a witness for the National Assembly inspection, the President must also appear as a witness in the administration's inspection."

He also criticized, saying, “The Director of the National Court Administration can sufficiently respond on behalf of the Supreme Court to the pending issues in question,” and added, “The purpose is to provoke a wasteful political conflict to shout at and humiliate the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.”

5-term lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun also posted a post on Facebook that day, saying, "During the hearing for Justice Minister Kim Seung-won, none of the 44 witnesses and 4 references requested by the opposition party were adopted," and "The witness stand to question the allegations against them was left empty, and the head of the judiciary who is confronting the trial and personnel issues will be put on the witness stand."

He added, “It is truly shocking to see the National Assembly, which should respect the independence of the judiciary, instead putting pressure on the judiciary.”

Shin Dong-wook, a member of the Supreme Court, appeared on KBS radio's 'Blitz Current Affairs' on this day and said, "It has been the practice to invite court presidents, led by the Director of the National Court Administration, to ask questions about the National Administration audit, and I think it is a courtesy to the head of the judiciary." He added, "Chief Justice Cho also seems to have judged it reasonable to avoid this audit due to concerns that the Democratic Party's political offensive would deteriorate it."