According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, the Democratic Party leadership on the 25th formally announced it would pursue a parliamentary investigation into Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae. Asked on the 24th about calls within the party for impeachment after the appellate ruling, party leader Kim Min-seok said, “We will proceed step by step as originally planned, including a national investigation.” That goes a step beyond his earlier position of keeping options such as the annual audit and impeachment open.

Spokesperson Shin Hyun-young told a press conference on the 25th that it is more reasonable to make the public clearly aware of the chief justice’s improper conduct and deliver results than to push impeachment recklessly. She said the schedule for the investigation after the annual audit would be set in consultation with the floor leadership. Financial News read this as an attempt to build justification while avoiding the political cost of an immediate impeachment motion.

Oh’s acquittal fires up the hardliners

Hardliners have labeled Mayor Oh’s acquittal on appeal a ‘counterattack by the judiciary.’ The Kyunghyang Shinmun also pointed to a run of rulings unfavorable to the ruling camp, including appellate convictions of Moon Jae-in administration officials over the repatriation of North Korean fishermen and a reduced sentence on appeal for former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae, who was indicted on charges of taking part in insurrection. Lawmaker Kim Yong-min wrote on Facebook on the 24th that the party voices anger but is passive on reform, and Rep. Choi Min-hee urged the same day, “If we do not do what we must, we will be countered,” telling the leadership not to hesitate.

Pressure from outside the party is also strong. Cho Kuk of the Rebuilding Korea Party’s policy institute called the ruling a ‘counterattack of judicial politics’ on Facebook on the 25th and argued this is the “last chance” for impeachment. On the 21st, Rep. Chung Chung-rae had warned that the investigation card could look like a stalling tactic to avoid impeachment. News1 reported that Rep. Park Beom-kye argued that the party should first see whether the chief justice cooperates with an investigation.

Exit ramp or first step?

A parliamentary investigation can be launched at the request of at least one-quarter of sitting lawmakers, so the ruling party can form a special committee on its own even over opposition objections. One first-term lawmaker close to President Lee Jae-myung called this evidence that the leadership has few options, but said it is not a bad way to publicize the chief justice’s problems before any impeachment. A senior lawmaker, by contrast, criticized the move as a ‘third way’ chosen because impeachment cannot be done while demands keep growing, the Kyunghyang Shinmun reported.

The case for caution is also clear. The Kyunghyang Shinmun noted that Cho’s term ends next June, so it is uncertain whether impeachment talk would fade even if an investigation wrapped up by year-end. One leadership official said that once the party enters the investigation stage, impeachment could be seen as a foregone conclusion, so the timing would be weighed carefully. News1 and Yonhap reported that some in the ruling camp see the expiry of Kim Keon-hee’s detention period at the end of this month as a variable.