Supreme Court Justice Nominees Kwon Young-jun and Seo Kyung-hwan Begin Hearings Today... Issues Include 'Law Firm Advisory and Unlisted Stocks'

Candidate Kwon Young-jun Faces Controversy Over High 'Law Firm Earnings' Attack
Candidate Seo Kyung-hwan Suspected of Spouse and Children Holding 'Unlisted Stocks'
Questions Expected on 'Yellow Envelope Law and Pre-Search Warrant Hearings'

The parliamentary confirmation hearings for Kwon Young-jun and Seo Kyung-hwan, the second and third Supreme Court justice nominees under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, will be held over two days on the 11th and 12th. Both were recommended as successors to Justices Cho Jae-yeon and Park Jung-hwa, who will retire on the 18th of this month.

Initially, Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo attempted to recommend progressive-leaning Supreme Court justice candidates to President Yoon Suk-yeol during the process of selecting successors for Justices Cho and Park. However, after the presidential office subtly expressed dissatisfaction, he reportedly recommended moderate-leaning candidates instead. This nomination marks the last personnel recommendation by Chief Justice Kim, who will retire in September.

Seokyung Hwan and Kwon Youngjun, candidates for Supreme Court Justice. /

During the confirmation hearings starting on this day, intense questioning is expected regarding nominee Kwon Young-jun (age 52, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 25) receiving approximately 1.815 billion KRW for submitting legal opinions to large law firms. On the 12th, nominee Seo Kyung-hwan (age 57, class 21) will face scrutiny over issues such as his family's holdings of unlisted stocks.

Nominee Kwon has served as a professor at Seoul National University School of Law and, over five years since 2018, prepared 63 legal opinions or provided testimony in international arbitration for large law firms, receiving about 1.815 billion KRW.

In his written response to the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Kwon stated, "Most of the compensation was for expert witness activities in international arbitration proceedings," and added, "Considering the scale of legal fees and the compensation received by comparable domestic and international experts, the remuneration I received does not exceed the normal range."

The opposition party is expected to launch an offensive arguing that Kwon, who received tens of millions of won from multiple law firms under the guise of consultation fees, is unsuitable for the Supreme Court justice position.

Additionally, the opposition is likely to raise concerns about allegations that Kwon's daughter volunteered at Seoul National University Law School during her high school years.

According to Kwon's written response to the confirmation hearing, obtained by Rep. Park Ju-min of the Democratic Party from the Ministry of Education, Kwon's eldest daughter was credited with eight hours of volunteer work on December 29, 2013, as "General Coordinator for the Seoul National University College of Law Workshop." The organizing body was recorded as "Glis," a youth non-profit organization related to Model United Nations. At that time, Kwon was serving as an associate professor at Seoul National University School of Law.

Regarding this, Kwon explained, "The eight hours of volunteer work were recognized by Glis, not Seoul National University Law School. My eldest daughter served as the secretary-general of Glis and prepared the workshop," and added, "Glis held workshops and Model UN conferences in cooperation with several universities besides Seoul National University, and the event took place on a Sunday, so it did not interfere with the academic schedule."

In Seo's confirmation hearing, his family's holdings of unlisted stocks are expected to be a key issue. Seo's spouse and eldest son each held 150,000 and 50,000 shares of unlisted stock, respectively, which reportedly increased in value more than sevenfold. Seo explained that he sold all the shares at their purchase price.

Furthermore, questions are anticipated regarding recent Supreme Court rulings on issues similar to the "Yellow Envelope Act" (amendments to the Labor Union Act and the Labor Relations Adjustment Act), as well as the introduction of a pre-examination system for search and seizure warrants.

In his written response, nominee Kwon stated, "I understand that recent Supreme Court rulings do not constitute a change in precedent. While there may be various interpretations or evaluations of the rulings, as a Supreme Court nominee, I respect the intent of the rulings and believe further comment is inappropriate."

Nominee Seo also remarked, "I am well aware of criticisms that recent Supreme Court rulings on issues such as ordinary wages, wage peak systems, and individualization of liability limitations are union-friendly," but added, "As a Supreme Court nominee, it is not appropriate to express specific opinions on cases where the Court has ruled based on constitutional and legal interpretations."

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