Special Prosecutor Dismisses Charges Against Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae

The Special Prosecutor's Office has dismissed charges against Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, who was accused of involvement in an insurrection during the martial law declared on December 3. The second special prosecutor team, led by Kwon Chang-young, announced on September 1 that "no new facts were confirmed after the investigation of the accuser on August 20, leading to the dismissal of the case." Dismissal occurs when there is a clear reason for non-prosecution or when further investigation is deemed unnecessary.

Cho was accused by civic groups of participating in the insurrection by failing to publicly point out or actively oppose the unconstitutionality and illegality of the martial law, despite being the head of the judiciary at the time of its declaration. The accusers highlighted that Cho convened an emergency executive meeting immediately after the martial law was announced but did not issue an official rejection from the Supreme Court.

However, a previous special prosecutor team investigating the matter (led by Jo Eun-seok) also dismissed charges against Cho last year. At that time, the team found that Cho had directly pointed out the unconstitutionality of the martial law to senior officials of the court administration shortly after its declaration and had thoroughly instructed them not to send a liaison officer to the martial law command, leading to a judgment of no wrongdoing.

With the dismissal of the insurrection charges, Cho has cleared a significant judicial risk. However, he is now under investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials due to recent controversies surrounding the nomination of Supreme Court justices.

An official from the Corruption Investigation Office stated during a regular briefing that the case against Cho, filed by civic group Justice for All, was assigned to the first investigation division (led by Chief Prosecutor Na Chang-soo) on August 27.

Previously, Justice for All submitted a complaint against Cho on August 25, accusing him of abuse of power and dereliction of duty. They claimed that Cho unilaterally nominated Supreme Court Justice nominee Son Bong-ki, disregarding established practices, thereby obstructing the president's legitimate appointment authority. They also pointed out that Cho's delay in nominating a successor to former Justice Roh Tae-uk for over seven months constituted clear dereliction of duty.