Yoon Administration's 'First Supreme Court Justice Nominee' Oh Seok-jun Confirmation Hearing... Opposition: "No Consideration for Socially Vulnerable"

Candidate Oh: "We Must Firmly Resist Unfair Attempts to Undermine Judicial Independence"

O Seok-jun, nominee for Supreme Court Justice, is delivering a greeting at the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 29th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The confirmation hearing for Oh Seok-jun (60, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 19), the first Supreme Court justice nominee under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, was held on the 29th. From the start of the hearing, the opposition party focused their attacks on the relationship between President Yoon Seok-yeol and nominee Oh. Oh is being mentioned as a successor to Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo, who will retire in September next year.

The National Assembly's Special Committee on Personnel Hearings held the hearing to verify whether nominee Oh is suitable to serve as a Supreme Court justice.

In his opening remarks, nominee Oh stated, "All members of the judiciary must firmly oppose any unjust attempts to undermine judicial independence and must never let their guard down to avoid falling into bias," adding, "Restoring the public's trust in fair trials is the reason I stand here today and the mission entrusted to me."

The opposition party raised concerns about nominee Oh’s relationship with President Yoon, noting that they were senior and junior by one year at Seoul National University Law School, their preparation periods for the bar exam overlapped, and that Oh attended both President Yoon’s wedding and recent inauguration ceremony.

In response, nominee Oh drew a clear line, saying, "I occasionally crossed paths with (President Yoon) while studying in the library, but we do not have a particularly close relationship."

The opposition also questioned nominee Oh about rulings he made in the past, including upholding the dismissal of a bus driver who embezzled 800 won and overturning the dismissal of a prosecutor who received entertainment worth 850,000 won.

In 2011, nominee Oh ruled that the dismissal of a bus driver who embezzled 800 won from transportation revenue after 17 years of service by an express bus company was justified. In 2013, he ruled that the disciplinary action (dismissal) against a prosecutor who received entertainment worth approximately 850,000 won from a defense attorney was excessively harsh and ordered its cancellation.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Tan-hee pointed out, "There has been no precedent of convicting a bus driver for embezzling a small amount, and this ruling severely impacted the livelihood of the bus driver’s family. Although nominee Oh says he considers the socially vulnerable, his actual rulings do not reflect that."

Nominee Oh responded, "While I have tried to consider the circumstances of defendants as much as possible during my long judicial career, there are parts I may have overlooked."

Nominee Oh expressed a critical stance on the abolition of the death penalty. However, he suggested introducing measures such as 'life imprisonment without parole or pardon,' stating that under current law, death sentences are unavoidable.

If nominee Oh passes the confirmation hearing, he will become the successor to Supreme Court Justice Kim Jae-hyung, who retires on the 4th of next month. President Yoon can appoint 13 out of the 14 Supreme Court justices during his term.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.