Assemblywoman Seo Young-kyo: "Cho Hee-dae Only Spoke for Himself... The Truth Will Be Revealed"

Cho Hee-dae Remains Silent for 90 Minutes Despite Ruling Party's Intense Questioning
"Must Answer Directly to Restore Trust in the Supreme Court"

Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae maintained complete silence during the National Assembly audit of the Supreme Court, despite repeated questions from ruling party lawmakers. In response, Assemblywoman Seo Young-kyo of the Democratic Party of Korea stated, "During the National Assembly audit, which is conducted in the name of the people, the Chief Justice must answer directly to restore public trust in the Supreme Court."

On October 14, during an appearance on SBS Radio's "Kim Taehyun's Political Show," Assemblywoman Seo said, "The most important institutional witness yesterday was Chief Justice Cho. This was because the allegations of election interference-specifically, the attempt to disqualify Lee Jaemyung as a presidential candidate-were highly significant."

Assemblywoman Seo further stated, "Chief Justice Cho should have answered questions from lawmakers at the National Assembly, but he remained completely silent." She added, "I also received tips suggesting that 'Lee Jaemyung cannot become a presidential candidate,' and that 'if Lee Jaemyung's case reaches the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Cho would handle it accordingly.' I wanted to question him about these reports. In fact, I asked several times, but received no response." She continued, "Rather than feeling frustrated, I felt that Chief Justice Cho postponed his answers to the very end and only spoke his own words before finishing. I believe the truth will gradually come to light."

On the 13th, the National Assembly held a legislative and judiciary committee hearing on the Supreme Court, attended by Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and others. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

She criticized, "Former President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, and the CCTV footage of former Prime Minister Han Ducksoo and former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sangmin-who were supporters of the martial law-has not been made public. There were chilling scenes of them smiling brightly while looking at documents. The footage even showed them pointing gun barrels." She continued, "On the day martial law was declared, the Supreme Court held an emergency meeting. Why did the Supreme Court convene such a meeting that day, and under whose orders? All of these matters must be uncovered as part of the investigation into the illegal martial law."

On the same day, former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sung-tae commented on Chief Justice Cho's silence, saying, "It appears to be a solemn and resolute determination to uphold the independence of the judiciary at all costs, even as the separation of powers in the Republic of Korea is being undermined." He added, "Even in a situation where he could feel all manner of humiliation and disgrace, his unwavering resolve not to be swayed is clear."

Chief Justice Cho appeared at the National Assembly audit venue at approximately 10:10 a.m. the previous day. Initially planning to leave after delivering a customary greeting, he stayed for about an hour and thirty minutes at the request of Choo Mi-ae, chair of the Legislative and Judiciary Committee, to remain and answer questions. However, when questioned by some Democratic Party lawmakers regarding allegations of election interference, he remained silent, staring straight ahead. The Judiciary Committee members plan to conduct a second audit of the Supreme Court in the form of an on-site inspection by visiting the court directly on October 15.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.