Result of Lee Gyunyong Confirmation Vote... Also Affects New Constitutional Court Chief Appointment

Director Yun Nam-seok to Retire in a Month... Possibility of Lee Jong-seok Being Nominated as Constitutional Court Chief Justice
If Rejected, Political Conflict Between Ruling and Opposition Parties May Escalate... Appointment of Constitutional Court Chief Justice and Justices Could Become a Political Controversy

The voting result on the nomination consent bill for Lee Gyun-yong, the candidate for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is expected to influence the selection of the next Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court. The vote on Lee's nomination consent bill will take place on the 6th.

On the 5th, political and legal circles predicted a high possibility that Lee's nomination consent bill would be rejected. Members of the Democratic Party belonging to the National Assembly Personnel Hearing Special Committee (Personnel Hearing Special Committee) reportedly requested their party colleagues to reject the nomination consent bill, stating that Lee's morality, compliance awareness, responsibility, and sense of balance are all untrustworthy.

Chief Justice Yoo Nam-seok of the Constitutional Court and the constitutional justices are seated for the verdict. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

At the Democratic Party members' meeting held the previous day, although the rejection was not adopted as the party's official stance due to concerns about worsening public opinion over a prolonged judicial vacancy, the atmosphere was reportedly leaning toward rejection to the extent that some said, "Since the rejection is inevitable and the party mood is already leaning that way, is it necessary to officially adopt it as the party stance?"

If Lee's nomination consent bill is rejected, the repercussions are expected to extend to the appointment of the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court. President Yoon Seok-yeol must soon nominate a successor to Chief Justice Yoo Nam-seok, who retires on the 10th of next month. If a variable arises requiring the renomination of the Supreme Court Chief Justice candidate, the appointment process for the new Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court is also expected to be difficult. Moreover, in a situation where the government, ruling party, and opposition are locked in a strong confrontation, if Lee's nomination consent bill is rejected, clashes between the ruling and opposition parties are expected to continue until the end of the year, making the appointments of the new Chief Justice and Constitutional Court justices subjects of political strife.

The Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court is appointed by the President with the consent of the National Assembly from among the justices. It is also the President's turn to nominate the successor justice to Chief Justice Yoo, and if President Yoon nominates a conservative-leaning justice candidate, the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties is expected to intensify further. All Constitutional Court justices are appointed by the President, with three nominated by the President, three by the National Assembly, and three by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Considering the current personnel composition of the Constitutional Court, there is a forecast that President Yoon will nominate Lee Jong-seok, a conservative-leaning justice nominated by the Liberty Korea Party (now the People Power Party), as the candidate for Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court. Lee's term runs until October next year. Since the Democratic Party is unlikely to readily agree to the appointment of a conservative Chief Justice, if the appointments of both the Supreme Court Chief Justice and the Constitutional Court Chief Justice fail, an unprecedented situation of a complete collapse of the judicial system will occur.

Legal circles point out that the entire judicial system must not collapse due to political strife between the ruling and opposition parties. A Supreme Court official said, "The suspension of trials and judicial administration of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court due to the National Assembly situation violates the separation of powers," adding, "While appropriate checks are necessary, the current situation is effectively the National Assembly tightly controlling and shaking the judiciary."

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