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South Korea's chief justice inquiry plan draws constitutional objection

The Democratic Party is targeting November for parliamentary scrutiny of Cho Hee-dae, while the People Power Party calls the move retaliation over presidential court proceedings.

Channel: MBCNEWS ·

South KoreaStory of October 28, 2026Trari Newsroom

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초유의 '대법원장 국정조사' 추진‥ 다음 달 목표 - [LIVE] MBC 뉴스데스크 2026년 10월 27일

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Press to jump

41:19Democrats plan a chief justice inquiry for November; the People Power Party calls it unconstitutional retaliation.
46:04MBC reports an additional detention warrant for Kim Keon Hee, citing evidence-destruction and flight concerns.
48:13A live report from Guryong Village follows firefighting efforts and residents' evacuation.
53:52Bereaved relatives demand changes after Itaewon disaster footage appears in Call of Duty promotional material, MBC reports.
56:10The Supreme Court upholds Lim Seong-geun's three-year sentence; the Marine's family criticizes the punishment.
58:16Anthropic is pursuing a Nasdaq listing targeting a $2 trillion valuation, according to the report.

A proposed parliamentary inquiry into South Korea's chief justice has moved from discussion to a Democratic Party decision to proceed, according to South Korea's Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). Its October 27 Newsdesk broadcast says the party wants the investigation held next month, in what the report describes as an unprecedented examination of a sitting chief justice.

The dispute concerns Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, appointed by then-President Yoon Suk Yeol in December 2023. The ruling liberal Democratic Party argues that major court decisions and signs of judicial politicization warrant parliamentary scrutiny. Its floor leader, Han Byung-do, describes that politicization as a dangerous signal.

The conservative People Power Party rejects that account. Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik calls the proposed inquiry unconstitutional and says its purpose is retaliation over court proceedings involving the president. The broadcast presents a plan and the political arguments surrounding it, not the findings of an inquiry already conducted.

The headline report begins roughly 41 minutes into the recording, after a digital news segment. Another major court development follows: MBC reports that an additional detention warrant was issued for former first lady Kim Keon Hee, citing concerns about destruction of evidence and flight. Earlier footage shows her lawyers arguing that continued detention was unnecessary and that political considerations should not influence the court.

The program also reports a large fire at Guryong Village, a shantytown in Seoul's affluent Gangnam district. A live connection shows firefighting operations and residents' evacuation. In a follow-up the next day, the broadcaster says the blaze was extinguished after 13 hours and displaced 127 residents.

An exclusive report examines the use of footage from the Itaewon crowd disaster in promotional material for a new Call of Duty game. Bereaved relatives are demanding changes, MBC reports. Separately, the program says the Supreme Court upheld a three-year prison sentence for former Marine division commander Lim Seong-geun over a Marine's death, while the family criticized the punishment as insufficient.

The broadcast then turns to technology and markets, reporting that Claude developer Anthropic is pursuing a Nasdaq listing with a target valuation of $2 trillion. Earlier in the recording, it examines Samsung advertising aimed at reported cracking problems with Apple's foldable iPhone Duo.