"Hard to Accept Procedural Flaws": Chief Justice Releases Second Statement

[Anchor]

Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, who rejected the president's request to re-recommend a Supreme Court justice, released another statement today, following one yesterday. He directly refuted the presidential office's stance, stating that it is difficult to accept the argument that there were procedural flaws in the Supreme Court justice recommendation process. He also pointed out that the official letter sent by the presidential office requesting a re-recommendation did not clearly state the reasons.

Our first report is from reporter Kim Deok-hyeon.

[Reporter]

Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae refrained from answering reporters' questions regarding his refusal of the request to re-recommend a Supreme Court justice on his way to work today.

[Cho Hee-dae / Chief Justice: (Is it your position to maintain the nomination of candidate Son Bong-ki as is?) ......]

About two hours later, however, Chief Justice Cho released an additional statement, explaining that various interpretations had emerged regarding the statement issued yesterday and that there were demands for a clearer explanation.

First, regarding the phrase in yesterday's statement that "the president's constitutional acts must be done in writing," Chief Justice Cho clarified that this was not intended to imply a formal defect in the re-recommendation request letter sent by the presidential office last month.

However, he emphasized that the relevant official document did not clearly state the reasons for requesting a re-recommendation.

He pointed out that for a document to be valid and proceedings to move forward, clear grounds and reasons must be presented according to the text of the document, criticizing the presidential office for failing to properly disclose the reasons for its re-recommendation request.

He added that it is difficult to accept the presidential office's claim that there were procedural flaws in the previous Supreme Court justice recommendation process.

While he did not directly state whether the president can refuse to appoint a Supreme Court justice candidate recommended by the Chief Justice, he clearly noted that even if the president has the power to refuse appointment, specific reasons must be officially presented. This is interpreted as revealing a clear difference in stance from the presidential office.

Chief Justice Cho expressed regret over the inconvenience caused to the public due to the prolonged vacancy on the Supreme Court bench, stating that he will do his utmost to ensure the procedures are concluded swiftly.

(Photo: Yonhap News / Video reporting: Kim Hangyul, Video editing: Yoon Tae-ho, Design: Park Taeyoung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.