Opposition chair slams DP for pressuring Supreme Court chief

The conservative main opposition People Power Party is raising the pressure on the ruling party over its confrontation with Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de.

At a press conference on Wednesday, People Power Party Chairman Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, accused the ruling bloc of using its power with the intention to subjugate the judicial branch by labeling Jo an insurrectionist.

"(The liberal bloc) has once again invoked 'insurrection,' which is already a stale tactic, to divert public attention away from the disastrous state of national affairs," Jang said.

"In doing so, it has even resorted to intimidating Chief Justice Jo by threatening to conduct special counsel investigations."

It was the latest development in the row between the presidential office and the top court, which have been at odds over the appointment of new justices.

President Lee Jae Myung recently refused to appoint one of two Supreme Court Justice candidates recommended by Jo, instead requesting that Jo recommend an alternative candidate. Dozens of Democratic Party lawmakers on Wednesday rallied in front of the Supreme Court condemning Jo's rejection to do so.

"The judicial branch's authority to recommend a justice under the Constitution is being completely ignored, because they want another candidate favored by Lee," Jang said.

Jang floated the idea that the Democratic Party was going all out to interfere in the top court's handling of Lee's own criminal trials, which were suspended shortly after his inauguration in June 2025.

"It is a last-ditch effort to block Lee's trials from resuming," Jang said. "(The liberal bloc) has increased the number of Supreme Court justices and allowed top court rulings to be appealed at the Constitutional Court."

Jang also condemned the administration's procrastination and failure to be transparent in dealing with a recent DMZ explosion that the government said injured three military officers.

The opposition leader in the press conference suspected that North Korean-made undetectable wooden-box land mines could be behind the explosion.

His claim follows a suspicion that a "terrain change" in some parts of the DMZ, in military authorities' words, could have been caused by the North Korean military, because no South Korean mines are planted in the area.

"After all, South Korean military officers fell victim to wooden-box mines that North Korea had secretly planted," Jang said.

"This was not merely an accident but a clear provocation by North Korea, so our response must therefore be meant to address provocation, not an accident."

Jang also said an investigation into whether the mines were from North Korea and whether they had drifted there or were deliberately planted "does not require a long time."