Supreme Court Chief Justice Nominates Two New Justices After Months of Delay

Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae nominated Daegu District Court Senior Judge Sohn Bong-ki and Seoul High Court Senior Judge Kim Sung-soo as new Supreme Court justices to President Lee Jae-myung today.

Once President Lee submits the appointment consent motions to the National Assembly, the confirmation hearing and other selection procedures for the new justices will officially get underway.

With the nomination for former Supreme Court Justice Noh Tae-ak, who retired in March, having been delayed and causing a prolonged vacancy on the bench, the selection procedures for the successor to Justice Lee Heung-goo, whose retirement is approaching in September, have also begun, resulting in the simultaneous nomination of candidates for both vacant seats.

Ahead of Justice Noh's retirement, the candidate recommendation committee formed at the time recommended four candidates including Judge Sohn in January, but the Chief Justice's nomination had been delayed for over six months.

While the authority to nominate Supreme Court justices constitutionally belongs to the Chief Justice, it has been customary for the presidential office and the Chief Justice to consult and nominate final candidates. The delay stemmed from the presidential office and the judiciary failing to narrow their differences over the final candidates.

Consequently, speculations have emerged that the judiciary may be attempting to find a compromise through a give-and-take approach with the presidential office by simultaneously nominating two candidates: the successor to former Justice Noh and the successor to Justice Lee.

If finalized, this appointment of Supreme Court justices will be the first since President Lee took office in June of last year.

Concerns have been raised that if the presidential office and the judiciary ultimately fail to narrow their differences and even the nomination for Justice Lee's successor is delayed, the Supreme Court vacancy would expand from one to two, potentially exacerbating trial delays.

(Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video editing by Ryu Ji-su | Design by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.