Kim Min-seok warns patience for Chief Justice Jo's voluntary resignation 'is not unlimited'

Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok warned Wednesday that Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae's window to resign voluntarily is closing. "The time to preserve his honor and dignity has passed," Kim said. "The patience line for a voluntary resignation is not unlimited."

Kim made the remarks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly, saying the party is "actively reviewing every available option to correct the chief justice's wrongdoing."

Kim said the public is watching how the chief justice conducts himself, and accused him of multiple legal violations — including inflating headcounts to improperly process expensive meal expenses and distributing monthly cash payments to Supreme Court justices as personal pocket money — in breach of the National Finance Act and other laws.

He added that Chief Justice Jo had already committed far too many constitutional and legal violations: staying silent on the night of the insurrection; interfering in the presidential election by remanding the Public Official Election Act case against President Lee Jae Myung for retrial; improperly undermining the president's appointment authority; neutralizing the national audit by refusing to take an oath; and infringing on citizens' right to a fair trial by refusing to re-recommend Supreme Court justice nominees.

Kim also said the government's police reform committee is launching Wednesday, and pledged that the party would closely oversee efforts to strengthen police investigative capabilities, check shoddy and delayed investigations, enhance victim protection, conduct a comprehensive review of intimate-partner homicide cases, and revise the Domestic Violence Punishment Act.

On cervical cancer vaccination, Kim said the current system provides support for low-income women between the ages of 18 and 26, and that the party would work with the government to expand it. He said the priority would be extending coverage to all women in that age group.