The Democratic Party of Korea alleged that Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de personally overturned a recommendation by the National Court Administration to submit a new nomination for a Supreme Court justice. The party called it "a grave matter that could constitute abuse of authority" and said it would pursue a parliamentary investigation.
Lee Yong-woo, the party's spokesperson, said at a press conference at the National Assembly on the 27th that "the National Court Administration initially concluded that a new nomination should be submitted, and its director reported this to Chief Justice Jo, but Jo flew into a rage and instructed that the position be redrafted as a refusal to renominate, on the grounds that the original nomination remained valid."
Lee said the administration's director "confided that it was the first time he had seen Chief Justice Jo so enraged, and the Supreme Court justices had been inclined to think that submitting a new nomination would suffice, so they could not hide their bewilderment at Jo's unexpected decision to refuse."
"If this is true, this episode amounts to personnel manipulation by an imperial chief justice and a grave matter that could constitute abuse of authority, in which an unprecedented display of rage was used to force a change in the court's interpretation of the Constitution," Lee said. "This episode also symbolically demonstrates the need for a judicial administration organization independent of the chief justice."
Addressing Jo directly, Lee asked whether he had "ignored the National Court Administration's recommendation to renominate and ordered the position be redrafted as a refusal," whether he had "formally gathered the views of the Supreme Court justices," and whether "the phone calls pressuring the justice candidates to withdraw were also made on Jo's instructions."
The Democratic Party plans to hold an emergency questioning session at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 28th to focus on the reasons for and the process behind Jo's refusal to submit a new nomination. Lee urged that Jo "not hide cowardly behind the director of the National Court Administration, but appear before the National Assembly in person and reveal the truth about this refusal," and called on the administration to "immediately submit to the National Assembly the documents the Assembly has requested — the review document on the recommendation to renominate, and the review document on the refusal that was reportedly redrafted after the report to Chief Justice Jo."
Jo had nominated Son Bong-gi, a senior judge at the Daegu District Court, as a Supreme Court justice candidate on the 18th of last month without separate consultation with the presidential office. Ten days later, the presidential office demanded a new nomination, saying it had been a written nomination made without substantive consultation. On the 22nd, Jo said he could not accept the demand, stating that he "could find no specific constitutional grounds or reasons to justify a new nomination."
