Kim Jeong-won, Current Deputy Secretary-General, Appointed as New Secretary-General of the Constitutional Court... Inauguration Ceremony Tomorrow

by Choi Sukjin

Published 13 Feb.2024 12:13(KST)

Kim Jung-won, the new Secretary General of the Constitutional Court. Photo provided by the Constitutional Court.

Kim Jeong-won, the current Deputy Secretary-General of the Constitutional Court (age 59, 19th Judicial Research and Training Institute class), has been appointed as the new Secretary-General of the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court announced on the 13th that Chief Justice Lee Jong-seok appointed Deputy Secretary-General Kim as the successor to Park Jong-moon, who retired last month.

The Secretary-General of the Constitutional Court holds a ministerial-level position, overseeing the administrative affairs of the Secretariat under the direction of the Chief Justice, managing personnel matters of affiliated officials, budget, and overall administrative operations.

The inauguration ceremony for the new Secretary-General Kim will be held at 10 a.m. on the 14th at the Constitutional Court auditorium in Jaedong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Kim graduated from Yongsan High School in Seoul and Seoul National University Law School. After passing the 29th Judicial Examination, he began his public service career in 1990 as a judge at Jeonju District Court.

He served at Incheon District Court, Seoul Family Court, Seoul High Court, and worked as Chief Judge at Seoul Central District Court and Seoul Northern District Court. In August 2012, he joined the Constitutional Court as a Senior Research Judge, was promoted to Chief Senior Research Judge in February 2018, and appointed Deputy Secretary-General in November 2019.

Unlike previous Secretary-Generals who were senior officials from external institutions such as courts or prosecution, Kim is the first Secretary-General to come from the Constitutional Research Judge background. Therefore, based on his expertise and experience in constitutional law and constitutional adjudication, the Constitutional Court expects him to deliver tangible results in enhancing the efficiency and promptness of trials, which Chief Justice Lee Jong-seok has emphasized.

During his tenure as Deputy Secretary-General, Kim continuously promoted the recruitment of constitutional research judges and Secretariat adjudication support personnel to reduce pending cases. Especially this year, he has been proactively leading the reorganization of the research department to improve trial efficiency and promptness. Accordingly, starting from the 19th, a Preliminary Review Division composed of one chief and five members will be newly established within the Constitutional Court’s research department, which is expected to further improve the efficiency and uniformity of preliminary review tasks, the Court stated.

Additionally, the Court plans to assign senior constitutional research judges as chiefs to each existing exclusive division to manage case processing procedures more meticulously, while streamlining joint divisions to handle cases more flexibly.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the Constitutional Court will concurrently serve as the Secretary-General of the Research Secretariat of the Asian Association of Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC), a multilateral international consultative body established under the leadership of Korea’s Constitutional Court. Based on the diverse international cooperation experience and networks accumulated while serving as the Deputy Secretary-General and as Korea’s alternate member to the Venice Commission from 2020 to 2023, Kim is expected to widely promote the status of the Korean-style constitutional adjudication system across Asia and worldwide.

As Chief Senior Research Judge, Kim established the Constitutional Research Judges’ administrative meetings to strengthen communication within the research department and efficiently manage research tasks, contributing to the prompt handling of cases.

Also, since his time as Chief Senior Research Judge, he has shown interest in integrating IT technology into constitutional adjudication, serving as the chairperson of the 'Constitutional Court Future Informatization Strategy Preparation Committee,' and was directly involved in the 'Intelligent Constitutional Adjudication System Construction' project aimed at introducing new IT technologies into constitutional adjudication.