Growing Controversy Over 'Written Recommendation'... Why Did Agreement on Roh Tae-ak's Successor Fail?

[Anchor]

Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae is facing controversy after submitting a written recommendation for two Supreme Court justice candidates. The ruling bloc is taking issue with the fact that he broke the custom of reaching a prior agreement before making the recommendation. It is reported that a conflict between the presidential office and the Chief Justice, which arose during the selection process for the successor of former Supreme Court Justice Roh Tae-ak, is the reason behind the failure to reach an agreement.

Senior Legal Reporter Im Chanjong has more.

[Reporter]

Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae recommended two new Supreme Court justices to President Lee Jae-myung the day before yesterday (the 18th).

He recommended Chief Judge Son Bong-gi of the Daegu District Court as the successor to former Supreme Court Justice Roh Tae-ak, who retired in March, and Chief Judge Kim Sung-soo of the Seoul High Court as the successor to Supreme Court Justice Lee Heung-gu, who is scheduled to retire next month.

However, departing from the custom of meeting the president in person to make the recommendation, Chief Justice Cho proceeded through a written submission.

[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice: (Is there a reason why you notified the presidential office of the Supreme Court justice successors in writing?) Thank you for your hard work.]

The written recommendation took place because President Lee and Chief Justice Cho failed to reach an agreement on a successor for former Supreme Court Justice Roh Tae-ak.

It is reported that President Lee's side wanted the recommendation of Chief Judge Kim Min-ki, who is classified as a progressive female judge, but Chief Justice Cho opposed it, citing reasons such as the potential for a conflict of interest because Chief Judge Kim's husband is Oh Young-joon, a Constitutional Court justice appointed by President Lee.

As differences of opinion failed to narrow, the vacancy on the Supreme Court has persisted for more than five months.

However, with another Supreme Court justice scheduled to retire next month and even arguments emerging that failing to recommend a successor constitutes grounds for impeachment, Chief Justice Cho appears to have recommended the two Supreme Court justice candidates simultaneously without an agreement from the presidential side.

Although no official statement has been released by the presidential office, the ruling bloc reacted furiously, calling it a judicial coup. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court explained that discussions were held until the last moment, but prior consultation or agreement is not mandatory.

[Noh Kyung-pil / Minister of National Court Administration: If we must (necessarily) consult with the president to exercise the right of recommendation, we would further have to consult with the National Assembly so as not to infringe upon its right of consent, and we do not think that is appropriate.]

While the majority interpretation in the legal community is that the president can refuse to proceed with the appointment process for individuals recommended by the Chief Justice, the conflict between the ruling bloc and the Chief Justice is expected to reach its peak following this written recommendation controversy.

(Video by Bae Moon-san | Video Editing by Park Ji-yeon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.