Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Cho Hee-dae has officially recommended Son Bong-ki (60, Judicial Research and Training Institute 22nd class), senior judge at the Daegu District Court, and Kim Seong-su (57, 24th class), senior judge at the Seoul High Court, to President Lee Jae-myung as successors to former Supreme Court Justices Noh Tae-ak and Lee Heung-gu.

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

The recommendation of a successor to former Supreme Court Justice Noh, who stepped down in March, had been delayed, resulting in a prolonged vacancy on the bench. With Justice Lee Heung-gu's retirement scheduled for September, the appointment procedures for both successors have now been combined and submitted simultaneously.

Senior Judge Son Bong-ki, born in Busan, graduated from Dalseong High School and Korea University's Department of Law.

As a regional judge in the Daegu and Ulsan areas, he has served as a judicial research officer at the Supreme Court and a professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

He served as the chief judge of the Daegu District Court during the tenure of former Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su and has been recommended as a candidate for the Supreme Court since 2021.

Senior Judge Kim Seong-su, born in Hampyeong, Jeollanam-do, graduated from Gwangju Insung High School and Hanyang University's Department of Law. He began his judicial career as a judge at the Gwangju District Court in 1998, and has since served as a judge at the Haenam Branch of the Gwangju District Court and the Seoul High Court, as well as ethics audit coordinator at the National Court Administration, senior judge at the Jeju District Court, senior presiding judge at the Cheongju District Court, and head professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

(Photo: Yonhap News)