Acting Minister of Justice on Korean Judge Nomination: "Possible to Exercise as Head of the Executive Branch"

Kim Seok-woo, Acting Minister of Justice, stated on the 9th that the nomination of a Constitutional Court justice candidate by Han Deok-su, Acting President and Prime Minister, was "an appointment made as the head of the executive branch."

Kim Seok-woo, Acting Minister of Justice. Photo by Yonhap News

At the plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the same day, Acting Minister Kim said, "The biggest change is basically the vacancy of the (presidential) office compared to the appointment of Justice Ma." He explained that while the impeachment trial was ongoing, it was interpreted as an 'accident' situation for the president, but after dismissal, it can be seen as a 'vacancy' situation, which changes the scope of authority exercised.

Acting Minister Kim said, "In the case of an accident, it includes situations where the impeachment trial continues, and depending on the outcome of the impeachment trial, the president may return," adding, "Therefore, if the acting president makes a decision different from the president's intention who can return, it should be avoided as much as possible, which is the aspect that appears during an accident." He continued, "If it is a vacancy, the possibility of the impeached president returning to office is zero," and added, "I understand that academia holds the opinion that the acting president can actively exercise authority in this case."

Acting Minister Kim explained that the cases of Lee Wan-gyu, Director of the Ministry of Government Legislation, and Ham Sang-hoon, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court, who were nominated by Acting President Han as candidates for Constitutional Court justices the day before, differ from Justice Ma, who was elected by the National Assembly, in that they are the president's quota. Kim said, "The president appoints nine Constitutional Court justices, but the appointment of three elected by the National Assembly and three nominated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is done as the head of state with a highly symbolic status." On the other hand, the appointment of the three justices under the president's quota is "understood in academia as an appointment made by the head of the executive branch, not as the head of state, since the legislative, judicial, and executive branches appoint them evenly," and added, "From Acting President Han's standpoint, I think he believed he could make the appointments without any special controversy."

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