In this file photo, Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and other justices are seated in the courtroom in Seoul on May. 1 to attend a hearing to hand down a ruling on the election law violation case of the Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. (Yonhap)
In this file photo, Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and other justices are seated in the courtroom in Seoul on May. 1 to attend a hearing to hand down a ruling on the election law violation case of the Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. (Yonhap)

The Democratic Party said Monday it will withdraw two controversial bills on appointing non-lawyers as Supreme Court justices and increasing the bench drastically to 100.

In a press release, the DP's election campaign committee said it instructed Rep. Park Beom-kye and Rep. Jang Kyung-tae, who had proposed the bills, to retract them.

Earlier, Rep. Park introduced a revision to the Court Organization Act to allow individuals with "scholarly knowledge and rich experience," and a sound understanding of the law to be eligible for Supreme Court justices even if they are not certified legal professionals.

Separately, Rep. Jang proposed a bill to expand the number of Supreme Court justices from the current 14 to 100.

The bills drew fierce backlash from the People Power Party, which accused the DP of attempting to establish a "pro-Lee Jae-myung" and a "pro-DP" court.

Lee, the DP's presidential candidate, dismissed the controversy, saying the bills were proposed by individual lawmakers and do not reflect the official position of the party or himself.

Observers say the DP's decision to withdraw the bills appears intended to defuse the controversy ahead of the June 3 presidential election. (Yonhap)