September 18, 2025
SEOUL – Chief Justice Jo Hee-de denied Wednesday that he had colluded with ex-Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to render President Lee Jae Myung ineligible to run for president, with a guilty verdict that nearly stripped him of his candidacy to run for president in the June election.
The statement, delivered through the Supreme Court, was the first released by the judicial branch since the liberal ruling bloc ramped up pressure for Jo’s resignation.
“The political circles have raised speculations that Jo had met with former Prime Minister Han and discussed ways to handle (Lee’s) case concerning his (violation) of the Public Official Election Act,” read the statement. “But the chief justice has never discussed anything with anyone outside (the court) regarding the criminal case.”
This came amid political pressure urging that Jo resign from the post, labeling the Supreme Court’s 10-2 ruling in May to find Lee, who was then the presidential front-runner, guilty of making false claims with the intention to win the 2022 presidential election. The case was sent back to the high court, but court proceedings were halted after Lee won the June presidential election and was inaugurated.
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea has denounced the ruling as an attempt to collude with the conservative bloc during the campaigning period to remove the strongest presidential candidate from the race. The conservative People Power Party, however, has countered that the liberal bloc’s call for Jo’s removal is in line with its attempt to undermine the power of the judicial branch.
Should the court have finalized Lee’s conviction with a fine of at least 1 million won ($720), Lee would have been deprived of the right to run for public office for 10 years. A district court had handed down a suspended sentence to Lee, but a high court later acquitted him of the crime.
