Yoon Nominates Justice Lee Jong-seok as New Constitutional Court Chief Justice Candidate This Afternoon

Graduated from Gyeongbuk High School and Seoul National University Law School
Presiding Judge in the Impeachment Case of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min

President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 18th nominates Lee Jong-seok, a Constitutional Court justice and a classmate from Seoul National University Law School class of '79 (age 62, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 15), as the candidate for Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court.

According to the Presidential Office, President Yoon designated Justice Lee in the afternoon as the successor candidate to the current Chief Justice Yoo Nam-seok. Born in 1961 in Chilgok, Gyeongbuk, Lee graduated from Gyeongbuk High School and Seoul National University Law School, passed the 25th bar exam, and entered the legal profession. After being appointed as a judge in 1989, he served as a judge at Incheon District Court, chief judge at Daejeon High Court, senior bankruptcy presiding judge at Seoul Central District Court, senior presiding judge at Seoul High Court, and after serving as the chief judge of Suwon District Court, he again took the position of senior presiding judge at Seoul High Court from February 2018.

Constitutional Court Justice Lee Jong-seok entered and sat in the grand courtroom on the afternoon of the 23rd at the Constitutional Court in Jongno-gu, Seoul, for the ruling on the authority dispute trial regarding the legislation of Geomsu Wanbak (complete removal of prosecutorial investigation rights). Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Subsequently, Justice Lee was nominated in October 2018 as a Constitutional Court justice for a six-year term, recommended by the Liberty Korea Party (now the People Power Party). He has been known in the judiciary as a "principled and orthodox thinker" and a "moral teacher," and is classified as conservative among the Constitutional Court justices. He served as the presiding judge in the impeachment case of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, which was unanimously dismissed by all justices in July.

There is some speculation that controversy over the "term of office" may arise during the National Assembly confirmation hearing regarding candidate Yoo, who has about one year remaining in his term as a Constitutional Court justice. Although the term of a Constitutional Court justice is fixed at six years, the term of the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court is not legally defined. Therefore, by Article 111, Paragraph 4 of the Constitution (The Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court shall be appointed by the President from among the justices with the consent of the National Assembly), the term has traditionally been linked to the justice's remaining term.

However, political and legal circles judge that the possibility of extreme confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties over this issue is low. Former Chief Justice Park Han-chul already stated in 2016 regarding the controversy over the expiration of the term that the position is based on the "remaining term of the Constitutional Court justice," and his successor, former Chief Justice Lee Jin-sung, also served only the remaining term as Chief Justice. Park Jong-moon, Secretary General of the Constitutional Court, acknowledged on the 16th during the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s audit that when asked by Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Ui-gyeom whether "even if Justice Lee is appointed quickly, with only 10 to 11 months remaining in his term, precedent shows that serving only the remaining term is sufficient," he replied, "That is correct."

For this reason, there is also speculation that President Yoon might extend Justice Lee’s term as a Constitutional Court justice to lengthen his tenure as Chief Justice. According to Article 112, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution and Article 7 of the Constitutional Court Act, reappointment of Constitutional Court justices is possible. Since the establishment of the Constitutional Court in 1988, there have been two cases of reappointment: former justices Kim Jin-woo and Kim Moon-hee.

The opposition parties are already preparing to conduct rigorous scrutiny during the National Assembly confirmation hearing for the new Chief Justice candidate. Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party, criticized at the party’s highest council meeting in the morning regarding the Supreme Court Chief Justice vacancy and the appointment of the new Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, saying, "The President and ruling party, who caused the Supreme Court Chief Justice vacancy by nominating an unqualified person as head of the judiciary, are not thinking of sending a proper candidate but are wasting time on political strife and ideological rhetoric." He added, "Meanwhile, critical reports about prominent figures related to the nomination of the Constitutional Court Chief Justice candidate continue. We must devote all efforts to finding a candidate worthy of the judiciary’s dignity."

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