The Legislative and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly decides to request the attendance of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae... Absence of Chief Justice

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Choi Pyeong-cheon = The National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, led by the Democratic Party of Korea, decided to request the attendance of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae at the general meeting on the 19th.

At the request of Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won, the motion requesting Chief Justice Cho to attend, which was submitted around noon on this day, was passed with the approval of all ruling party lawmakers, including the Democratic Party. People Power Party lawmakers voted against it.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Seo Young-kyo, a member of the Democratic Party, explained at the meeting, "This is to inquire about what happened in the process of nominating candidates for the long-vacant Supreme Court Justice and the reasons for referring the trials of Kim Kun-hee, Han Deok-soo, and Lee Sang-min to the Supreme Court's plenary body."

At the meeting, the Democratic Party criticized Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's recommendation for appointment of the two final candidates for Supreme Court Justice to President Lee Jae-myung in writing, calling it judicial politics that ignored the President and the National Assembly.

In response, the People Power Party countered that the right to recommend a Supreme Court Justice candidate is the Supreme Court Chief Justice's exclusive authority, and that there is no reason for the Chief Justice to recommend a specific candidate according to the President's wishes.

Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party criticized, “The Blue House has abused its power by interfering with the right to recommend, and is now blaming the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who exercised the right to rightfully recommend,” and added, “It is a parliamentary dictatorship. It is a very shameful thing for the people.”

Chief Justice Cho did not attend the plenary session of the Judiciary Committee, which resumed this afternoon.

When Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min asked why Chief Justice Cho did not appear, Director of the Court Administration Noh Kyung-pil replied, "He said he could not come due to circumstances. As far as I know, there is no obligation to appear under the law."

Rep. Kim said, “If attendance can be requested by law, the obligation to attend is naturally assumed,” and asked, “Are you kidding?”

Director Noh said, “If there are provisions in the law, the law must be followed.”