Yoon Likely to Nominate Supreme Court Chief Justice Candidate This Week... Concerns Over Vacancy in Heads of 'Two Major Judicial Bodies'

Cho Hee-dae, Oh Seok-jun Among Leading Candidates... Possibility of 'Surprise Appointment'
Director Yoo Nam-seok to Retire in Five Days... Nomination Without Hearing Schedule
'Vacancy in Heads of Two Major Judicial Bodies' Realized... Public Harm Concerns

President Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to nominate the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court within this week. Since the appointment consent bill for former nominee Lee Gyun-yong was rejected by the National Assembly on the 6th of last month, the vacancy of the Supreme Court Chief Justice has continued for over a month, prompting a final acceleration in the vetting process.

According to political and legal circles, currently, former Supreme Court Justice Cho Hee-dae (66, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 13) and Supreme Court Justice Oh Seok-jun (61, class 19), both included in the Korean Bar Association’s recommended list, are being strongly considered.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Among them, former Justice Cho and Justice Oh have already undergone a National Assembly confirmation hearing once, so it is expected that their appointment consent bills will pass more smoothly. However, former Justice Cho cannot serve the full six-year term due to the Supreme Court Chief Justice’s retirement age regulation (70 years old), and Justice Oh may face variables due to his connection with President Yoon, as they prepared for the judicial examination together.

A 'surprise' pick is not out of the question. Kim Hyung-doo, a Constitutional Court Justice; Kang Min-gu, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court; and Professor Jeong Young-hwan of Korea University Law School are also mentioned as candidates.

The Presidential Office views the ongoing vacancy in the head of the judiciary as something that can no longer be left unattended. Earlier, President Yoon nominated Lee Jong-seok, a Constitutional Court Justice, as the new Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, but the confirmation hearing schedule has yet to be finalized in the National Assembly. The Personnel Hearing Act stipulates that the hearing must be completed within 15 days from the date the appointment consent bill is referred to the special committee, but due to differences between the ruling and opposition parties, the hearing is expected to be held only around mid-month.

Born in 1961 in Chilgok, Gyeongbuk, nominee Lee graduated from Gyeongbuk High School and Seoul National University Law School, passed the 25th judicial examination, 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 chief judge of the bankruptcy division at Seoul Central District Court, senior chief judge at Seoul High Court, and after serving as the chief judge of Suwon District Court, he again took the position of senior chief judge at Seoul High Court from February 2018.

Later, in October 2018, nominee Lee was nominated as a Constitutional Court Justice for a six-year term, recommended by the Liberty Korea Party (now the People Power Party). He has been nicknamed a 'principle and rule adherent' and 'moral teacher' in the courts and is classified as conservative among Constitutional Court Justices. He presided over the unanimous dismissal decision in July on the impeachment motion against Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min.

There is a possibility of a 'term controversy' during the National Assembly confirmation hearing for nominee Lee, who has about one year left in his remaining term as a Constitutional Court Justice. Although the term of a Constitutional Court Justice is set at six years, the term of the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court is not legally defined. Therefore, according to 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 conventionally been linked to the Justice’s term.

Even if the hearing begins, nominee Lee must pass the opposition party’s scrutiny. The opposition has vowed to conduct rigorous verification if the confirmation hearing for the new Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court is held. Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, previously criticized, saying, "The President and ruling party, who caused the Supreme Court Chief Justice vacancy by nominating an unqualified person for the head of the judiciary, are not thinking of sending a proper nominee and are wasting time on political strife and ideological rhetoric. Meanwhile, critical reports about prominent figures related to the nomination of the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court continue. Efforts must be fully devoted to finding a nominee worthy of the judiciary’s dignity." Some in the opposition also suggest that nominee Lee was appointed because he is a classmate of President Yoon.

Current Chief Justice Yoo Nam-seok will retire on the 10th upon the expiration of his term. According to the Constitutional Court Act, if the Chief Justice position is vacant, a meeting of the Justices is convened to elect an acting Chief Justice, and case hearings can formally proceed with only seven Justices. However, this is an exceptional provision to prepare for illness or recusals, and there are concerns about the Constitutional Court’s ability to function normally under an acting Chief Justice system. This essentially forecasts an unprecedented situation of 'vacancies in the heads of the two major judicial institutions.'

When President Yoon visited the National Assembly on the 31st of last month to deliver the policy speech on next year’s budget, the five key figures who attended the pre-meeting reportedly urged Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and the floor leaders of both ruling and opposition parties in unison, saying, "We hope the National Assembly will cooperate well so that the vacancies of the Supreme Court Chief Justice and the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court do not prolong." On the same day, Kim Do-eup, chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, pointed out during a meeting between President Yoon and the heads of standing committees of the National Assembly, "The public is suffering due to the vacancy of the Supreme Court Chief Justice. It is our fundamental duty to complete the organizations of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials."

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