People Power floor leader demands decision on chief justice impeachment push

People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik (정점식) urged Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok (김민석) on October 18 to decide promptly whether to pursue the impeachment of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. Speaking at a National Assembly press briefing, Jeong accused the ruling party of prolonging uncertainty while weighing its political interests. He pledged to use every available means to block impeachment proceedings. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]

Jeong said Kim’s announcement that the party would formally discuss impeachment was drawing the parliamentary audits into an impeachment dispute. He argued that a statement by the leader of the large governing party carried weight comparable to submitting a motion and said Kim should bear responsibility for his words. These were Jeong’s assessments; the reports describe discussion of impeachment rather than a confirmed filing. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]

Jeong attributed declining support for the government and ruling party to problems involving livelihoods, diplomacy and appointments. He alleged that Kim had raised impeachment to divert public attention from those problems and rally supporters instead of addressing the situation through policy and competence. Chosun Ilbo reported that Kim had said on the party’s YouTube channel on October 16 that broad demands for impeachment already existed and that discussion of all methods and possible routes had begun. [ 1 , 2 , 4 ]

At the same briefing, Jeong separately criticised the government’s approach to transferring wartime operational control. He said capability, rather than timing, should determine the transfer and called for the schedule to be reconsidered through sufficient consultation with the United States. He urged the government and ruling party to stop trying to fit the transfer to the president’s term, arguing that military capacity and the will to counter North Korea should come first. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]