Ruling party backs off Supreme Court expansion plan amid outcry

Lawmakers attend the plenary session of the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

Korea's ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) opted, Thursday, to delay its controversial push for legislation that would dramatically expand the Supreme Court, proposing to increase the number of justices from 14 to 30. The move came amid escalating concerns over the potential impact on judicial independence.

Referred to by critics as "court packing," the proposed bill, if enacted, is widely feared to swiftly recalibrate the ideological balance of the nation's highest judicial body. Opponents contend such an expansion would align the court's composition more closely with the political views of President Lee Jae-myung, who took office just this Wednesday.

The Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jung Chung-rae, approved that bill on Wednesday amid opposition from the conservative People Power Party. DPK officials said it may try to pass the bill during Thursday's plenary session at the Assembly.

Under the bill, 16 additional Supreme Court justices will be added over the next four years. All will be appointed by President Lee, who has just begun his five-year term, with the consent of the Assembly.

DPK lawmakers have said the number of Supreme Court justices needs to be raised to lessen the excessive workload for them. Another objective of the reform is to build a more diverse bench that would reflect "diverse perspectives.”

Yet the radical degree and the pace of the expansion have drawn extensive criticism. Since its establishment in 1949, the number of Supreme Court justices has been around a dozen.

Speaking to reporters earlier that day, Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae said he hoped there would be further discussion on the issue, in remarks suggesting his objection to the reform plan.

“I think it is necessary to continue to explain to and cooperate with the National Assembly in regard to the function of the Supreme Court, which is outlined in the Constitution, and what the right direction of its reform is,” Cho said. “It is a complex issue intertwined with many other issues; it’s an issue that will affect the country’s future over the next 100 years. So we will continue to consult with the Assembly through the National Court Administration.”

Ham In-kyung, a spokeswoman for the opposition party, criticized the DPK reform plan.

“The proposed amendment to increase the number of Supreme Court justices from 14 to 30 is not just about numbers, it is about power. It's an attempt to influence all future judicial decisions by stacking the bench with people who fit the administration’s code,” she said in a statement on Thursday.

Many conservatives see the move more as the ruling party’s retaliation against the Supreme Court and an attempt to influence future judicial decisions.

DPK lawmakers began proposing such court reform bills when Lee was still a presidential contender, after a Supreme Court ruling on May 1 overturned a lower court, whose verdict had cleared Lee of violating the nation’s election law.

In the days following the verdict, the DPK ramped up pressure on the judiciary, threatening to impeach judges and justices who refused to comply with its demand to suspend criminal trials involving Lee. As political pressure mounted, the Seoul High Court eventually decided to postpone the May 15 hearing in Lee’s election law case to June 18.

On Thursday, Rep. Jo Seoung-lae, the DPK’s chief spokesman, reiterated the demand, saying all the criminal trials involving a sitting president, as the Constitution stipulates that a sitting president “shall not be charged with a criminal offense during his tenure of office except for insurrection or treason.” But questions remain whether trials that have already started must, too, be suspended.

The idea of court packing was also proposed in the United States by the radical wing of the Democratic Party ahead of the 2020 presidential election. But such calls were dismissed by former President Joe Biden.