Yoon Administration's First Supreme Court Justice Confirmation Hearing... Oh Seok-jun: "Must Resist Attempts to Undermine Judicial Independence"

President Yoon on 'Friendship' Inquiry: "Had Meals and Drinks Together in University"
Bus Driver Found Guilty of Embezzling 800 Won... Opposition: "No Consideration for Socially Vulnerable"

[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. Oh is being mentioned as a successor to Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo, who is retiring in September next year.

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

In his opening remarks, Oh emphasized, "All members of the judiciary must firmly oppose any unjust attempts to infringe upon judicial independence and must never let their guard down to avoid falling into bias."

He added, "Restoring the public's trust in fair trials is the reason I stand here today and the mission entrusted to me."

Regarding questions about his personal friendship with President Yoon, Oh said, "When we dined together in college, we shared drinks, and even in later meetings, it was inevitable that we sometimes had alcohol when meeting in the evening."

When asked whether he attended President Yoon's wedding and if President Yoon attended his wedding, Oh replied, "I don't remember exactly since it was in 1988, but even if I did attend, it wouldn't have been an unusual time."

The opposition party also questioned Oh about his past rulings: upholding the dismissal of a bus driver who embezzled 800 won, and overturning the dismissal of a prosecutor who received 850,000 won worth of entertainment expenses.

In 2011, 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 to cancel the disciplinary dismissal of a prosecutor who received entertainment worth 850,000 won from a lawyer, stating the punishment was too harsh.

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 (Oh) says he should consider the socially vulnerable, his actual rulings did not reflect that."

Oh responded, "Over many years of trials, I have tried to consider the circumstances of defendants as much as possible, but there were parts I failed to notice. I was unaware if the dismissed driver had such circumstances. I feel heavy-hearted thinking that my ruling may have caused difficulties for him."

Democratic Party lawmaker Yang Yi-won criticized the 2013 ruling that overturned the dismissal of the prosecutor who received entertainment from a lawyer. Yang said, "They said the dismissal was unfair because the entertainment amount was under 1 million won, but did they investigate whether it was deliberately kept under 1 million won? I don't understand if this is favoritism toward those in power."

Oh replied, "There are details about the case circumstances that I can explain, but I fully accept the point you raised."

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 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.