Yoon likely to name Supreme Court chief this week

Nov 06, 2023, 09:50 am

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President Yoon Suk-yeol gives a speech on next year’s budget at the plenary session of the National Assembly on Oct. 31, 2023./ Source: Lee Byung-hwa

AsiaToday reporter Park Ji-eun

President Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to announce a nominee for Supreme Court chief justice as early as next week. As the National Assembly voted down the nomination of Lee Gyun-ryong on Oct. 6, the top post of the Supreme Court has been vacant for over 40 days.

“The nomination of the chief justice is likely this week,” an official from the presidential office told AsiaToday on Sunday, adding, “It is difficult to tell the specific date.”

Constitutional Court justice Kim Hyung-doo, former Supreme Court justice Jo Hee-de and Korea University professor Jung Young-hwan are the three most likely candidates.

If nominee Kim Hyung-doo is nominated as the next Supreme Court chief justice, he would be the first former constitutional judge to be the top court chief justice. Since taking office as a constitutional judge under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, Kim has made moderate conservative rulings, but has also issued progressive rulings, including the acquittal of former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook in 2010.

Nominee Jo Hee-de was appointed to the Supreme Court in March 2014 under the Park Geun-hye administration. He served as a justice researcher at the Supreme Court, a senior judge at the Seoul High Court, and the head of the Daegu District Court, and mainly expressed conservative views in politically sensitive cases during his tenure. After retiring as a Supreme Court justice in March 2020, he has been a chair professor at Sungkyunkwan University’s Graduate School of Law and has been working to train his junior students.

Another nominee Jung Young-hwan left the court in 1999 after completing his appointment as a judge in 1989. Since then, he has served as the president of the Korean Civil Execution Law Association and the president of the Korean Law Professor. He has been out of office for more than 20 years since the early 2000s.

The presidential office is preparing for the appointment with the aim of making an announcement this week. Along with the vacancy at the top court, the head post of the Constitutional Court is also expected to be vacant after current chief Yoo Nam-seok’s term ends on November 10.

President Yoon Suk-yeol nominated Constitutional Judge Lee Jong-seok as a candidate for the new head of the Constitutional Court last month, but rival parties have yet to set a date for the confirmation hearing of the nominee. The Personnel Hearing Act stipulates that the hearing should be completed within 15 days from the date of the appointment motion is referred to the special committee, but it is expected to be held only in the middle of this month after passing the deadline due to differences between the ruling and opposition parties.

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