PPP calls Cheong Wa Dae's pressure on chief justice 'brazen' over Supreme Court vacancy

The People Power Party on Saturday accused Cheong Wa Dae of being "brazen" after the presidential office urged Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae to move quickly on re-nominating candidates for vacant Supreme Court justice seats. The PPP said the situation amounted to the president dragging his feet and then shifting the blame onto the chief justice.

PPP floor spokesperson Choi Eun-seok issued a statement Saturday titled "Cheong Wa Dae's unreasonable demands on Supreme Court justice re-nominations — pinning the blame on the chief justice."

In the statement, Choi cited remarks Chief Justice Jo made Friday at the Korea Court Day ceremony. Jo said: "Only when the courts — constitutionally independent state institutions — adjudicate neutrally and fairly in accordance with the Constitution and the law, free from undue interference or influence from other state bodies, political powers, social forces, or even the parties to a case, can the freedoms and rights of the people be fully guaranteed and the rule of law realized."

Choi said the words were "entirely reasonable," but added that "in light of the current reality in South Korea, they do not sound ordinary." He described the remarks as "a stern warning from the head of the judiciary to the Lee Jae Myung administration, which has been shaking the judiciary, placing political interests ahead of the composition of the Supreme Court, and eroding the boundaries of the separation of powers."

Choi then said, "As the saying goes, a thief feels his own feet give way," adding that Cheong Wa Dae had pushed back immediately after Jo's address became known, citing the presidential office's comments that the re-nomination process was being delayed.

Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kang Yu-jung met with reporters at the presidential office on Friday and said, "Cheong Wa Dae is doing everything it can to ensure the follow-up procedures do not impede the people's right to a full and fair trial." She went on to say, "We also hope the chief justice will respect the recommendations of the Supreme Court justice candidate recommendation committee and proceed with the re-nomination process as swiftly as possible, so that the people's right to a trial is not infringed upon by the prolonged vacancy of Supreme Court justice seats."

Choi said the presidential office's stance was "brazen beyond measure," asking, "How can the chief justice be held responsible for the prolonged vacancy of Supreme Court justice seats? The chief justice already nominated candidates."

Choi said the president should have submitted the nomination consent motion for the nominated candidates to the National Assembly and followed the constitutionally prescribed procedure. "Yet it was Cheong Wa Dae that halted that process and pulled out the nearly unprecedented card of demanding a re-nomination," he said.

Choi said the presidential office had itself prolonged the Supreme Court vacancy and was now "invoking the people's right to a trial to pressure the chief justice into rushing through a fresh nomination." He said it was a case of "the president running out the clock and then passing the blame to the chief justice."

Choi said that if the administration had genuinely been concerned about the people's right to a trial, "it should have followed the constitutionally prescribed procedure from the outset." He said, "The president filling the Supreme Court with people of his own choosing is not the separation of powers. Respecting the constitutionally prescribed procedure and the independence of the judiciary — even when someone other than the person the president wants is nominated — is the separation of powers."

Choi said the Supreme Court "is neither a place to erase the president's trials nor a place to be filled with people the president trusts," and that "what the president should be worried about right now is not his own trial or his next term." He said the president should instead address "the warning lights flashing across the economy, people's livelihoods, national security and the overall affairs of state," adding that the president's "continuously plummeting approval rating is the harshest real-world report card the people are sending this president."

Choi went on to say the president should "stop scheming to erase the trials and stop scheming to extend the term," calling such moves things "the people and the Constitution will never tolerate."

Earlier, on Aug. 28, Cheong Wa Dae submitted to the National Assembly a consent motion for the appointment of only one of the two Supreme Court justice candidates nominated by Chief Justice Jo — Seoul High Court Senior Judge Kim Seong-su — while declining to proceed with the appointment of Daegu District Court Senior Judge Son Bong-gi, and instead asked Jo to re-nominate a different candidate in Son's place. Jo has yet to publicly state his position on the matter.