Seo Young-gyo, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker who chairs the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, warned that "insurrections are likely to occur frequently in the future" if former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is released, as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hold a full bench hearing on the insurrection appeal case on Thursday — one day before Han's detention period expires.
Seo made the remarks Friday on YTN Radio's "Jang Seong-cheol's News Myeongdang," saying concerns about Chief Justice Jo Hee-de's Supreme Court had been raised "very early on" for bringing the situation to its current state.
"The Supreme Court should naturally have handled the Han Duck-soo case well in advance — why is it resorting to tricks by scheduling it after the Yoon Suk Yeol case?" Seo said. "The public and Assembly members are witnessing a series of moves that appear designed to grant immunity to those around him."
Asked whether Han's potential release could prompt a renewed push to impeach Chief Justice Jo, Seo said people suspect that "someone like Jo Hee-de, in such an important position, may have been engaged in a process of using tricks or other maneuvers to cover up wrongdoing." Seo added that "measures must be taken on this, and discussions on impeachment will inevitably have to resume within the party."
On the question of a parliamentary investigation into Chief Justice Jo, Seo said the effort had not been abandoned. "It was not decided against — what was discussed then was simply postponed," Seo said.
Seo said Jo faced grounds for impeachment on multiple counts. "Violations of the Constitution and laws are grounds for impeachment, and there are far too many such instances," Seo said, pointing to what Seo described as irregularities in the assignment of insurrection cases, a strategy meeting held on the night of the illegal emergency martial law declaration, and the scheduling of the retrial in the case involving President Lee Jae Myung — then a presidential candidate — being assigned on the 22nd and put to a full bench vote on the 24th.
Regarding the confirmation hearing for Lee Yong-cheol, President Lee's nominee for justice minister, Seo said the formal hearing request had not yet arrived. "Once the request comes in, we will review it and adopt a schedule — the hearing should be held around next week," Seo said.
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