Second Chief Justice in Constitutional History May Be Rejected... Vote on Lee Gyunyong's Appointment Consent Today

This Afternoon (6th) National Assembly Plenary Session
Vote on Supreme Court Chief Justice Nominee Consent
Democratic Party Has Not Set Party Position... Rejection Likely

The nomination consent bill for Lee Gyun-yong, the candidate for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, will be put to a vote in the plenary session of the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 6th. While the Democratic Party of Korea is widely expected not to confirm a party line of 'rejection' in order to avoid the burden of concerns over a 'judicial vacuum' if the nomination consent bill for the Chief Justice is rejected, the internal party atmosphere already seems to accept 'rejection' as a foregone conclusion. If the nomination consent bill for the Chief Justice is rejected in the National Assembly, it will be the second time in constitutional history.

Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party, expressed regret at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that morning regarding the vote on the candidate's nomination consent bill, saying, "We regret the government's and ruling party's public opinion campaign warning of a judicial vacuum if the nomination consent bill for the Chief Justice is rejected today," and emphasized, "What the President and the ruling party should do is to apologize for the failed personnel screening and withdraw the unqualified candidate." At the policy coordination meeting the day before, Floor Leader Hong also clearly stated the position that if the nomination consent bill is rejected, it is entirely the responsibility of President Yoon Seok-yeol, who recommended an unqualified candidate and failed in personnel screening.

The plenary session of the National Assembly scheduled for the 25th, which was tentatively agreed upon by the ruling and opposition parties, was effectively canceled. This followed the approval of the arrest consent bill for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and the subsequent resignation of the Democratic Party's floor leadership amid factional conflicts. The confirmation vote for Lee Gyun-yong, nominee for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was postponed, resulting in a situation where the judiciary lacks a head. The photo shows the empty National Assembly plenary hall. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Within the party, the momentum for rejecting the candidate is strong. All members of the Democratic Party's personnel hearing special committee held a press conference that morning to reiterate the necessity of 'rejection.' In their statement, they pointed out, "A person who has served as a judge for over 30 years claims not to have known whether he had 1 billion won in personal assets or not, nor how to report his assets," and "He did not report his child's overseas migration according to the Overseas Migration Act, and regarding allegations of fraudulent health insurance claims, he consistently responded with arbitrary and voluntary submission of documents, repeating only claims of explanation like a parrot."

They continued, "He ends others' public official careers with disqualification but apologizes for asset reporting omissions as a mistake," adding, "Even internal evaluations by legal professionals are harsh. In 2023, his historical awareness and gender sensitivity are at a level that is difficult to overlook." They also directed criticism at President Yoon Seok-yeol for recommending a candidate lacking qualifications. They stated, "If the Chief Justice nomination consent bill is rejected, all responsibility lies with President Yoon Seok-yeol, who failed to properly conduct personnel screening," and emphasized, "We hope he does not even privately blame the National Assembly." This is interpreted as pointing out the personnel defeat of the Yoon administration while attempting to shift the burden of a potential Chief Justice vacancy to the government.

The ruling party criticized the Democratic Party's 'collective rejection' movement and pressured them to cooperate in passing the bill. Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the ruling party, said at the National Assembly's audit countermeasures meeting that morning, "As a legitimate party prepared for governance, the Democratic Party should pass the candidate's confirmation bill for the sake of the people and promptly resolve the Chief Justice vacancy."

Floor Leader Yoon said, "Although there were some controversies about the candidate during the confirmation hearing process, they were not reasons sufficient to reject the confirmation," and added, "Rather, it has been confirmed that he is the right person to correct various abnormalities of the Kim Myung-soo judiciary and to achieve judicial independence and political neutrality." Park Dae-chul, chairman of the policy committee, also criticized the Democratic Party, saying, "The promised play of unanimous rejection is a transparent ploy to temporarily conceal internal party strife and induce a bulletproof judiciary."

Senior spokesperson Yoo Sang-beom commented, "Even though the ruling and opposition parties are in sharp confrontation and conflict over political issues, the three pillars of the Republic of Korea's constitutional system?legislative, judicial, and executive?must not operate abnormally or be allowed to stop even for a moment." He emphasized, "Regarding today's vote, all citizens are watching whether the Democratic Party will make a 'political' choice for themselves or a choice for the people through the 'normalization' of the constitutional system."

If the candidate's nomination consent bill is rejected, it will be recorded as the second case of a Chief Justice nominee falling in constitutional history. In 1988, during the Roh Tae-woo administration, the candidate for Chief Justice, Jeong Gi-seung, was rejected in the National Assembly vote due to criticism over his cooperation with the military regime and other issues.

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