[Profile] 'Mr. Minority Opinion' Jo Hee-dae, Supreme Court Chief Justice Nominee

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President Yoon Suk-yeol has nominated former Supreme Court Justice Cho Hee-dae (66, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 13), who is well-known as a 'principlist,' as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. However, even if Cho is appointed as Chief Justice, he will not be able to serve the full six-year term due to the mandatory retirement age of 70 for the Chief Justice.

Cho Hee-dae, nominee for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. / Photo by Jin-hyeong Kang aymsdream@

Cho is from Wolseong, Gyeongbuk, and after graduating from Gyeongbuk High School and Seoul National University Law School, he passed the 23rd Judicial Examination and began his public service career. Starting as a judge at the Seoul Criminal District Court in 1986, he has extensive experience in both adjudication and judicial administration, having served as a Supreme Court research judge, professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, chief judge at the Seoul District Court, chief judge at the Seoul High Court, and chief judge of the Daegu District Court (concurrently serving as chief judge of the Daegu Family Court).

Since his appointment as a Supreme Court Justice in 2014, Cho has emphasized principles. In his inaugural speech, he referenced Article 1 of the Constitution, stating, "As declared by the Constitution, the Republic of Korea is a democratic republic. I pledge to faithfully fulfill the duty of protecting the freedom and human rights of the sovereign people while establishing the legal order of the community based on the free democratic basic order," highlighting his commitment to principles.

Although Cho is known for rulings leaning toward conservative views, the legal community generally agrees that he ruled based on principles rather than ideology, as he has also made progressive rulings depending on the case.

In 2014, Cho delivered the Supreme Court's first ruling recognizing that repair technicians who had signed subcontracting contracts with home appliance service agencies could be considered workers under the Labor Standards Act if a substantial subordinate relationship existed, in a lawsuit filed by home appliance repair technicians against Dongbu Daewoo Electronics Service seeking severance pay.

In 2016, he acknowledged Samsung Group's attempt to dismantle labor unions and ruled that the dismissal of union officials was unfair. He also ruled against Samsung in cases where union members faced disciplinary actions such as suspension for distributing union recruitment leaflets. Additionally, he ruled that drivers of cleaning vehicles should be classified as sanitation workers and entitled to allowances.

In 2018, Cho ruled that private tutors could form labor unions and engage in collective actions. He also ruled that broadcast actors, who had been treated as independent contractors and thus excluded from labor law protections, qualify as workers under the Labor Union Act.

On the other hand, after former Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo's inauguration, when the judiciary shifted toward a progressive stance, Cho was known as 'Mr. Dissenting Opinion' for frequently issuing minority opinions. For example, when the Supreme Court en banc overturned a 14-year-old precedent recognizing religious and conscientious objection to military service as a legitimate reason for exemption, Cho dissented, stating that "it is impossible to examine the existence of genuine conscience related to military service refusal."

Cho also issued a dissenting opinion during an en banc ruling that proposed raising the working age limit for manual laborers from 60 to 65, arguing that "it is reasonable to consider the age limit as 63 rather than 65, as there is no significant increase in economic participation rates to justify raising the limit from 60 to 65."

Furthermore, he expressed the opinion that sanctions against the documentary 'Baeknyeon Jeonjaeng' (The Hundred Years' War), which critically addressed the pro-Japanese activities of former Presidents Rhee Syngman and Park Chung-hee, were justified. He also issued a separate opinion suggesting acquittal on charges of abuse of power against former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-chun, who was prosecuted in connection with the cultural and artistic blacklist case.

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