President Lee Jae-myung has rejected a Supreme Court justice nominee recommended by Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and asked for a new recommendation, triggering an unusual dispute over judicial appointments in South Korea. It is the first time in the country’s constitutional history that a president has refused to accept a chief justice’s nomination.
The Blue House said Cho delayed the recommendation for more than seven months before sending the written nomination on Aug. 18 without prior consultation. Senior presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said the chief justice’s recommendation power supports the president’s appointment authority and does not replace it.
The presidential office also indicated that a re-nomination should come from candidates already recommended by the existing judicial nominating committee. Kim Min-ki, a judge at the Suwon High Court, Park Sun-young, a judge at the Seoul High Court, and Yoon Seong-sik, a senior judge at the Seoul High Court, are being discussed as possible candidates. But many legal interpretations say a new nominating committee must still be formed under the Court Organization Act, suggesting the controversy is likely to continue.
Lee has also submitted to the National Assembly an appointment consent motion for Kim Seong-su, a Seoul High Court senior judge who was recommended as the successor to Supreme Court Justice Lee Heung-gu. The dispute comes as Lee is expected to appoint a total of 22 Supreme Court justices during his term, making the first appointment a possible precedent-setting moment.
