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

[Anchor]

Controversy is growing as Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae submitted a written recommendation to President Lee Jae-myung for the appointment of two Supreme Court justice candidates. The ruling bloc is raising issues, arguing that it broke the convention of reaching prior agreement with the president. The failure to reach an agreement is reportedly due to a conflict between the presidential office and the Supreme Court that emerged during the selection process for the successor to former Supreme Court Justice Roh Tae-ak.

Legal affairs specialist reporter Im Chanjong has the details.

[Reporter]

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

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

However, unlike the convention of meeting the president in person to make recommendations, 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 occurred because President Lee and Chief Justice Cho failed to reach an agreement on the successor to former Supreme Court Justice Roh Tae-ak.

President Lee's side reportedly wanted to recommend Chief Judge Kim Min-ki, who is classified as a progressive female judge. However, Chief Justice Cho reportedly opposed this, citing the potential for a conflict of interest because Chief Judge Kim's husband is Oh Young-jun, a Constitutional Court justice appointed by President Lee.

As differences narrowed down, the vacancy of the Supreme Court justice has continued for over 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 simultaneously recommended two Supreme Court justice candidates without an agreement from the presidential side.

While no official stance has been released by the presidential office, the ruling bloc reacted with fury, 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-phil / Minister of Court Administration: If we must consult with the president (to exercise the right of recommendation), further to that, we would also have to consult with the National Assembly so as not to infringe upon its right to consent, which we do not think is appropriate.]

While the majority interpretation within the legal community is that the president can refuse to proceed with the appointment process for a person 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 reporting: Bae Moon-san, Video editing: Park Ji-yeon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.