Supreme Court Recommends 8 Candidates for Constitutional Court Justices Including Kim Yong-seok, Kim In-gyeom, and Kim Hyung-doo

Eight candidates, including Kim Yong-seok, Chief Judge of the Patent Court (Judicial Research and Training Institute Class 16), Kim In-gyeom, former Chief Judge of the Seoul Family Court (Class 18), and Kim Hyung-doo, former Deputy Chief of the Supreme Court Administrative Office (Class 19), have been recommended as successors to Lee Seon-ae and Lee Seok-tae, who will retire from the Constitutional Court in March-April, and as the first Constitutional Court justices to be appointed by President Yoon Seok-yeol.

Constitutional Court of Korea, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

On the afternoon of the 28th, the 'Constitutional Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee' formed by the Supreme Court announced that it had recommended to the Chief Justice candidates including Kim Heung-jun, Chief Judge of the Busan High Court (Class 17), Son Bong-gi, former Chief Judge of the Daegu District Court (Class 22), Ha Myung-ho, Professor at Korea University Law School (Class 22), Noh Kyung-pil, Presiding Judge of the Suwon High Court (Class 23), and Jung Jeong-mi, Judge of the Daejeon High Court (Class 25).

Chief Judge Kim Yong-seok has served as Chief Judge of the Seosan Branch of the Daejeon District Court, Senior Presiding Judge of the Suwon District Court, and Chief Judge of the Seoul Administrative Court, and has been serving as Chief Judge of the Patent Court since last year.

Chief Judge Kim Heung-jun has served as Chief Judge of the Ansan Branch of the Suwon District Court, Senior Presiding Judge of the Incheon District Court, Presiding Judge of the Seoul High Court, and Chief Judge of the Seoul Southern District Court, and is currently Chief Judge of the Busan High Court.

Former Chief Judge Kim In-gyeom has held positions such as Judicial Policy General Deliberator at the Court Administration Office and Senior Presiding Judge of the Suwon District Court. He served as Deputy Chief of the Court Administration Office from 2019 to 2020 and is currently serving as a Presiding Judge at the Seoul High Court.

Former Deputy Chief Kim Hyung-doo has worked as Judicial Policy Research Deliberator, Judicial Policy Second Deliberator, and Senior Research Fellow at the Court Administration Office. He served as Deputy Chief of the Court Administration Office from 2021 to 2022 and worked as Senior Presiding Judge of the Civil Division 2 at the Seoul Central District Court in 2017.

Former Chief Judge Son Bong-gi, who served as Chief Judge of the Sangju Branch of the Daegu District Court and Senior Presiding Judge of the Ulsan District Court, was the first to be appointed as Chief Judge of the Daegu District Court in 2019 through the 'Court Chief Judge Candidate Recommendation System,' receiving recommendations from frontline judges.

Professor Ha Myung-ho began his judicial career as a judge at the Daejeon District Court in 1996. He has served as a Constitutional Court Research Officer and Supreme Court Judicial Research Officer. Since 2007, he has been a professor at Korea University.

Presiding Judge Noh Kyung-pil has served as a presiding judge at the Gwangju High Court since 2016 and was Senior Presiding Judge of the Suwon High Court in 2021. He was appointed as the first 'Article 10 Judge' in 2011 (judges appointed under Article 10 of the Judicial Personnel Rules among those with experience as district court presiding judges). He was the first Article 10 Judge to become a high court presiding judge.

The only female candidate, Judge Jung Jeong-mi of the High Court, has served as Chief Judge of the Gongju Branch of the Daejeon District Court and concurrently as Chief Judge of the Gongju Branch of the Daejeon Family Court. If appointed as a Constitutional Court justice, she would be the first from the Article 10 Judge group.

The Supreme Court presented to the Recommendation Committee the major information of 27 candidates who agreed to the screening after being recommended from various sectors, along with the results of opinions collected regarding their suitability. The committee discussed various materials and opinions and selected eight candidates on the day.

Chairperson Choi Young-ae of the Recommendation Committee explained, "We aimed to recommend candidates who respect diverse social values and possess deep empathy and insight into issues of discrimination and human rights violations faced by social minorities and the vulnerable," adding, "We recommended individuals with expertise, a future-oriented philosophy, and a will to practice."

Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo of the Supreme Court plans to designate two new Constitutional Court justice candidates early next month based on the Recommendation Committee's recommendations, proceed with the National Assembly hearing process, and request the President to appoint them.

Unlike Supreme Court justices, the appointment of Constitutional Court justices does not require the consent of the National Assembly. Among the nine Constitutional Court justices and the Chief Justice, three are appointed by the President, three by the National Assembly, and the remaining three by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The appointing authority is the President.

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