Adoption of Hearing Report for Supreme Court Nominee Seo Kyung-hwan... Reconsideration for Kwon Young-jun

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Controversy Over High Fees for Writing Opinion Letters to Law Firms
Lee Sang-min: "Materials Must Be Submitted Today"

The National Assembly's Special Committee on Personnel Hearings adopted the appointment consent report for Supreme Court Justice nominee Seo Kyung-hwan on the 17th. In the case of nominee Kwon Young-jun, discussions will continue on the 18th.

On the afternoon of the same day, the hearing committee held a plenary meeting and, after discussing the "Adoption of the Appointment Consent Report for Supreme Court Justice Nominees Kwon Young-jun and Seo Kyung-hwan," decided to adopt only the report for nominee Seo. Kim Byung-wook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated, "There is no disagreement regarding nominee Seo, so I agree."

Committee members agreed to continue discussions on whether to adopt the report for nominee Kwon until the following day. The controversy centers on Kwon having written legal opinions for law firms and receiving substantial fees while serving as a professor at Seoul National University School of Law, but he has yet to submit the requested documents.

Lee Sang-min, Chairman of the Special Committee on Personnel Hearings for the Consent to the Appointment of Supreme Court Justices, is striking the gavel to approve the adoption of the review report on the consent to the appointment of Justice Seo Kyung-hwan at the plenary meeting of the Special Committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 17th. The special committee decided to discuss the adoption of the review report on the consent to the appointment of Justice Kwon Young-jun at the plenary meeting on the 18th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

It is known that from 2018 to 2022, nominee Kwon wrote 38 legal opinions for seven law firms and received a total of 1.81 billion KRW. Kwon refused to submit the legal opinion documents citing "confidentiality obligations."

The hearing committee decided to reconsider the adoption of the report after receiving additional documents. Jeong Jeom-sik, the ruling party's secretary, said, "Our position that there is no legal problem remains unchanged, but we agree to discuss it again tomorrow."

Lee Sang-min, the chairman of the hearing committee and a member of the Democratic Party, also requested, "If possible, nominee Kwon should submit the documents by the end of today."

The National Assembly plans to hold a vote on the appointment consent for nominee Seo, whose report was adopted, during the plenary session scheduled for the 18th. If nominee Kwon's report is not adopted, the appointment consent for him will not be placed on the plenary agenda, and no vote will take place.

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