Kim Min-seok says parliamentary probe of Chief Justice Jo to proceed, details need wider public reach

Democratic Party of Korea leader Kim Min-seok said Wednesday that the party's decision to pursue a parliamentary investigation into Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae was made partly because the public had not been sufficiently informed of the specific problems with the Jo court. "I judged it would be better to be more thorough in the process of reviewing and communicating the issues," he said.

Kim made the remarks on the Democratic Party's YouTube channel "Minti07," saying he had from the outset pledged to fully explain and persuade the public on matters including the impeachment of Chief Justice Jo.

"When I look at the public opinion landscape and ask whether the key issues have been adequately conveyed, I think we need to build a somewhat more objective evidentiary foundation," Kim said. The comments reaffirmed the party's decision to conduct a parliamentary investigation first, even as hard-line supporters within and around the ruling camp have been pressing loudly for Jo's impeachment.

Kim acknowledged that opinion within the party was not entirely uniform. "It is hard to say there is 100 percent one view," he said. "There are those who think it would be better to move quickly on impeachment, who believe the conditions for impeachment are already in place." At the same time, he noted, others in the party believe the public is fundamentally focused on livelihood issues rather than on impeachment or a parliamentary probe.

He added, however, that when he conveyed the party's position at Tuesday's general assembly meeting, "there was no officially significant dissent." "There have always been people with differing views on social media and elsewhere, and they have expressed them, but the party's current direction continues along those lines," he said.

On South Korea's potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Kim said the timeline could stretch beyond the end of this year. "I think the party will need to hold broader discussions — with farmers in particular, as well as the general public — and standing committees will need to deliberate further on this," he said.

Kim explained that the issue had come up Monday during a dialogue between President Lee Jae Myung and farming and fishing communities, noting that President Lee had recently decided the country would not apply for membership this year. "There are external demands and domestic economic considerations, but in broad terms we are proceeding cautiously," Kim said.

He added that while the agricultural and fisheries sectors' positions would not be ignored, he personally believed accession was in some respects inevitable and that the meeting marked the start of raising the question of whether discussions should begin. "Personally, I have long thought that a national review of the various dimensions of this issue through open discussion is unavoidable," he said.