[Anchor]

The presidential office has decided not to submit the confirmation motion for Supreme Court Justice nominee Son Bong-ki, instead asking the Chief Justice to re-nominate another candidate. The reason cited is that the Chief Justice unilaterally submitted the Supreme Court Justice candidate in writing, failing to achieve procedural completeness.

Reporter Kang Cheongwan.

[Reporter]

The presidential office announced that it will not submit to the National Assembly the confirmation motion for Daegu District Court Senior Judge Son Bong-ki, who was nominated to succeed former Supreme Court Justice Noh Tae-ak, and instead requested Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae to re-nominate a candidate other than Senior Judge Son.

The office stated that the nomination process for Senior Judge Son lacked procedural completeness.

[Kang Yu-jung / Senior Spokesperson for the Presidential Office: The Chief Justice withheld nomination for over seven months, and then unilaterally submitted nominee Son Bong-ki in writing on August 18 without any substantive consultation taking place.]

The presidential office pointed out that it was confirmed in the National Assembly that right before nominating nominee Son, the National Court Administration individually contacted other candidates to explore restarting the recommendation process, noting that this undermines trust in the fairness of the personnel process.

[Kang Yu-jung / Senior Spokesperson for the Presidential Office: (The appointment of a successor to former Supreme Court Justice Noh Tae-ak) is the first Supreme Court Justice appointment since the launch of the new administration. For the first Supreme Court appointment by a government representing popular sovereignty, the public must be able to understand and accept it from the perspective of procedural legitimacy, even before looking at the result.]

Regarding candidate Kim Sung-soo, who was nominated alongside Senior Judge Son, the presidential office stated that since consultations led to a consensus, his confirmation motion will be submitted to the National Assembly.

The office then urged the Chief Justice to proceed with the re-nomination process as quickly as possible to prevent any infringement on the public's right to a trial caused by the prolonged vacancy of a Supreme Court Justice.

Previously, the Supreme Court submitted senior judges Kim Sung-soo and Son Bong-ki as Supreme Court Justice candidates to the presidential office in writing on the 18th, leading to a public clash as the presidential office countered that it was an unprecedented, unilateral notification that bypassed consultations.

(Camera: Jung Sang-bo, Yoon Hyung | Video Editing: Park Sun-soo)