Cho Hee-dae, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is expected to announce his position this week regarding a request from the Blue House to reappoint a Supreme Court justice. Cho has also decided not to attend a legislative inquiry by the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee concerning the written reappointment of justices.
According to legal circles on the 30th, the Supreme Court and the Court Administration Office have been focused on formulating a response over the weekend after receiving an unprecedented request from the Blue House for a reappointment.
On the 28th, the Blue House rejected the nomination of Judge Son Bong-ki of the Daegu District Court, who was proposed as a successor to former Justice Noh Tae-ack, without submitting the appointment agreement to the National Assembly, and requested a new nominee.
During a conversation with reporters on his way home on the same day, Cho stated, "I apologize for causing concern to the public," adding, "I am reviewing the details and will officially inform you once things are organized next week." As a result, the Supreme Court's final stance, including whether to reconstitute the nomination committee, is expected to be announced this week.
Legal experts are closely watching what decision Cho will make. Previously, the nomination committee recommended four candidates, including Judge Son, Judge Kim Min-ki of the Suwon High Court, Judge Park Soon-young of the Seoul High Court, and Judge Yoon Seong-sik of the Seoul High Court in January. If Cho selects one of the existing nominees for reappointment, it is anticipated that the conflict with the Blue House will be resolved relatively quickly.
However, if he opts to completely reconstitute the committee and restart the nomination process, the appointment of justices could be prolonged. In 2012, when Justice Kim Byeong-hwa voluntarily resigned, the Supreme Court reconstituted the committee and restarted the nomination process, which resulted in a three-month delay in the National Assembly's confirmation hearing.
Particularly, if Cho declares a reconstitution of the nomination committee instead of reappointing the existing candidates, tensions with the government and the ruling party are likely to escalate. Some members of the ruling party have even mentioned the possibility of an impeachment motion against Cho.
Seong-kyu Seo, the chair of the Judiciary Committee and a member of the Democratic Party, recently stated on YTN Radio's "Jang Seong-cheol's News Myungdang" that he believes impeachment is fundamentally necessary. Kim Seung-won, the ruling party's secretary of the Judiciary Committee, also fueled the impeachment discussion in an interview with MBC Radio's "Kim Jong-bae's Focused Attention," stating, "There are certainly grounds for impeachment."
Cho will not attend the scheduled inquiry on the 31st. The Judiciary Committee had previously voted on the 21st to summon Cho as a witness regarding the written reappointment issue and the Supreme Court's referral of the cases involving former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min for a full court review.
However, Cho submitted a letter to the National Assembly on the 28th notifying them of his absence. The letter reportedly stated that "requiring the Chief Justice to testify regarding the exercise of the constitutional independent authority of the reappointment is contrary to the separation of powers and judicial independence."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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