Judiciary Committee to Conduct On-Site Audit of Supreme Court on the 15th of Next Month... "Cho Hee-dae Will Have Nowhere to Hide"

Schedule Changed to Two Days at the Ruling Party's Initiative... Supreme Court Audit at the National Assembly on the 13th, On-Site Inspection on the 15th

People Power Party Protests "Schedule Change Without Agreement, Undermining the Judiciary"... Democratic Party "Must Uncover Presidential Election Interference"

Members of the People Power Party's Judiciary Committee protest the resolution to conduct an on-site inspection of the Supreme Court (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Joo-sung = On September 30, as Democratic Party Chairperson Choo Mi-ae attempted to pass a resolution to conduct an on-site inspection of the Supreme Court at a plenary session of the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee, members of the People Power Party, including Representative Na Kyung-won, protest and leave the meeting. 2025.9.30 utzza@yna.co.kr

The National Assembly's Judiciary Committee announced on the 30th that it would conduct a state audit of the Supreme Court on October 13th and 15th. The one-day audit schedule has been extended to two days, with an on-site inspection at the Supreme Court on the 15th.

The Judiciary Committee passed the "Amendment to the 2025 State Audit Plan" at its plenary session this afternoon, led by the Democratic Party.

The People Power Party opposed the audit plan, which appears to be pressuring the Supreme Court, arguing, "Are they trying to shake the Supreme Court because they fear President Lee Jae-myung will be removed from office if his trial resumes?" However, the bill passed with unanimous approval from the Democratic Party and pro-government opposition lawmakers.

On September 24th, the Judiciary Committee had adopted a plan to conduct state audits of 79 institutions from October 13th to 31st. At that time, the audit of the Supreme Court was scheduled for a single day, October 13th, at the National Assembly.

However, under the amendment, the Supreme Court audit has been extended by one day to October 15th, and the audit location has been decided as the Supreme Court itself, to be conducted in the form of an on-site inspection. The October 13th audit will still take place at the National Assembly.

Hearing of Cho Hee-dae, who announced absence, is scheduled (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Joo-sung = The witness seats at the National Assembly Judiciary Committee meeting room, where the 'Cho Hee-dae Chief Justice Presidential Election Interference Allegation Hearing' was scheduled for September 30, are empty.

The witnesses, including Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who were subpoenaed today, announced their intention to be absent. 2025.9.30 utzza@yna.co.kr

The People Power Party protested, claiming the Democratic Party changed the audit schedule and location without agreement.

The Democratic Party countered that an on-site inspection of the Supreme Court is necessary to investigate Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's alleged 'presidential election interference' and to confirm reasons for the inability to increase the number of Supreme Court justices.

People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Kyu-taek questioned, "The schedule for conducting a state audit at the Supreme Court has been suddenly added. When the previous audit plan was approved, detailed explanations were given for why all audits would be held at the National Assembly and not on-site."

He added, "Isn't the Democratic Party unilaterally adding an extra day for the audit and going on-site using the audit as a means to pressure the Supreme Court?"

Fellow party member Joo Jin-woo argued, "The Democratic Party's threats of impeachment against the Chief Justice, coercion of resignation, and summons to hearings are retaliation for the guilty verdict against President Lee, and an attempt to destabilize the judiciary to nullify President Lee Jae-myung's trial."

Conversely, Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Young-kyo said, "When we requested Cho Hee-dae's schedule (from the Supreme Court), they sent it without including the ruling on May 1st, which was a retrial. We must conduct a thorough audit on-site regarding this false schedule."

Fellow party member Kim Ki-pyo sarcastically referred to Chief Justice Cho as 'Nari' (a term of respect for nobility) and stated, "The meaning of the retrial (in the public election law case on May 1st) is that 'ignorant commoners have no right to elect their own leaders. They can only choose from a few people selected by nobles and the privileged like us.'"

Kim continued, "If it is inconvenient for Nari Cho Hee-dae to appear before the public, we will personally visit to pay our respects. At that time, you will likely have nowhere to hide."

Independent lawmaker Choi Hyuk-jin stated, "We must visit the site of the judiciary, which demands a trillion and 400 billion won to increase the number of Supreme Court justices, a king-like judiciary that believes itself to be imperial. It is necessary to film how they live and show it to all the people." Yonhap News