South Korea's ruling party opens talks on impeaching Chief Justice Cho

South Korea's ruling Democratic Party has begun discussing possible impeachment of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, party leader Kim Min-seok said on October 16. Speaking on the party's YouTube broadcast, Kim said there were already widespread demands for impeachment and that discussions had begun on all methods and routes. Yonhap and Newsis reported his remarks as a move beyond his earlier calls for Cho to resign voluntarily. [ 3 , 6 ]

Kim said the party had previously avoided raising impeachment while seeking to give the public sufficient explanation and understanding. He said it was now compiling the reasons why Cho must step down. On October 14, Kim had said the party was examining all practical measures to address what he described as the chief justice's wrongdoing, adding that patience for voluntary resignation was not unlimited. Newsis reported a party spokesman as saying impeachment was not excluded. [ 3 , 6 ]

Two Democratic Party lawmakers on the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee also argued for impeachment on the same broadcast. Yonhap reported their criticisms of Cho's position on parliamentary scrutiny of his nomination powers and his refusal to take a witness oath at a parliamentary audit. Those were the lawmakers' arguments for impeachment, rather than findings reported by the agency as a court judgment. [ 3 ]

Later coverage described divisions over moving ahead. Hankook Ilbo reported that a senior parliamentary leadership official called for close examination, including the prospect of approval at the Constitutional Court. Other party lawmakers questioned whether impeachment would be accepted there or whether the party should focus on livelihood issues. Korea Economic Daily also reported internal caution and opposition criticism. Dong-A Ilbo said it remained uncertain whether the discussions would lead to an actual impeachment motion. [ 19 , 23 , 24 ]