DPK leader urges Supreme Court chief to resign over written recommendation of new justices

Kim Min-seok, the newly appointed leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and former prime minister, called on Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae to resign on Wednesday. The issue, Kim argued, was Cho's written recommendation for the appointment of two new Supreme Court justices to the president the previous day. Kim deemed Cho to be "the worst chief justice since the nation's liberation" and demanded his resignation during a party leadership meeting in Busan.

Kim questioned how a chief justice could engage in such "judicial misconduct" with no shame. On Tuesday, Cho had recommended Son Bong-kie from the Daegu District Court and Kim Sung-soo from the Seoul High Court for appointment as new Supreme Court justices by the president. Typically, the chief justice meets with the president to make a face-to-face recommendation after prior coordination.

However, Kim claimed Cho bypassed this process by notifying the presidential office of his recommendations in writing. Kim maintained that the public had endured and granted Cho the opportunity.