Presidential Office on Rejection of Lee Gyunyong's Appointment: "Unprecedented Long Judicial Vacancy... Deeply Regrettable"

Opposition Unity Leads to Supreme Court Chief Justice Nomination Rejection... "Holding People's Rights Hostage"

The Presidential Office criticized the opposition party on the 6th for the rejection of the appointment consent bill for Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee Lee Gyun-yong, stating, "The victims are the people, and it is a political struggle that holds the rights of the people hostage." This statement was made following the rejection of the appointment consent bill for the Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee, led by the Democratic Party of Korea, at the National Assembly that afternoon.

Lee Do-woon, spokesperson for the Presidential Office, made these remarks during a meeting with reporters at the Yongsan Presidential Office shortly after the appointment consent bill for the Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee failed to pass the National Assembly, which was led by the major opposition party.

In particular, Spokesperson Lee expressed "deep regret that the opposition party's unilateral opposition led to the rejection of a competent and capable judge, causing an unprecedented long-term vacancy in the judiciary."

Meanwhile, the National Assembly held a plenary session at 2 p.m. that day and put the appointment consent bill for nominee Lee to a vote, resulting in 118 votes in favor, 175 against, and 2 abstentions out of 295 members present, thus rejecting the bill. This rejection was the result of a coalition of opposition parties, including the Democratic Party with 168 seats and the Justice Party with 6 seats. This is the first time in 35 years since the rejection of the appointment consent bill for Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee Jeong Gi-seung in 1988 that such a bill has been rejected.

Prior to the vote on nominee Lee's appointment bill, the Democratic Party adopted a party stance of 'rejection' at a party meeting. Yoon Young-duk, the Democratic Party floor spokesperson, told reporters after the party meeting held at the National Assembly, "Regarding the appointment consent bill for nominee Lee, the Democratic Party adopted rejection as the party stance at the previous party meeting." Yoon explained, "Floor leader Hong Ik-pyo proposed the party stance of rejection after gathering opinions from Democratic Party members who believe that nominee Lee has several issues regarding his ability and qualifications to protect judicial independence and perform his duties as a high-ranking public official." He added, "After the decision-making process, it was decided to adopt rejection as the party stance unanimously by all members present today."

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