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The number of candidates to succeed Justices Cho Jae-yeon and Park Jeong-hwa, whose term ends in July, has been reduced to eight. Seven judges and one teacher. This is the second Supreme Court justice successor since the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, after Oh Seok-joon. On the 30th, the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommending Committee (Recommending Committee) held a meeting at 2:00 pm, announced out of 37 candidates recommended as successors to Justices Jae-Yeon Cho and Jung-Hwa Park and agreed to the review, 8 candidates were narrowed down and recommended to Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo. Seoul High Court Judge Yoon Jun, Seoul High Court Presiding Judge Suh Gyeong-hwan, Daegu District Court Presiding Judge Son Bong-gi, Seoul High Court Presiding Judge Eom Sang-pil, Seoul High Court Judge Park Sun-young, Shin Standing Sentencing Committee Member (judge), Seoul South District Court Presiding Judge Jeong Gye-seon, Seoul National University School of Law Professor Kwon Young-joon, etc. am. The recommendations committee consists of six ex officio members, including Senior Justice Cho Jae-yeon, Chief Justice Kim Sang-hwan of the Ministry of National Courts (Supreme Judge), and Justice Minister Han Dong-hun, and four non-ex officio members. , including Choi Young-ae, former head of the National Human Rights Commission. Among the recommended candidates, all seven except Professor Kwon are judges. Among the candidates, Judge Eom Sang-pil is the only one who is Yoon’s classmate at the Judicial Research and Training Institute (class 23). As with female candidates, three out of four candidates were nominated. Chairman Choi Young-ae said, “I recommended those who not only have a professional and rational opinion as a lawyer, but also a warm social sensitivity towards the socially disadvantaged and minorities, a human rights insight that encompasses various values ​​in our society , and a thorough sense of duty for the independence of the judiciary.” We recommended those who can respond to the changing times of the gradually expanding concept and category of international human rights,” he said. He added, “However, in terms of diversity, the range of applicants for this screening was not wide, and despite such limitations, we tried to consider diversity in terms of career, origin and gender as much as possible.”
Chief Justice Kim will collect opinions from inside and outside the court by the 2nd of next month and recommend two of them to President Yoon. Thereafter, candidates for Supreme Court Justice are finally appointed by the President after a confirmation hearing in the National Assembly and a vote to be confirmed by the plenary.

Members of the Supreme Court Nominee Recommending Committee speak at 2:00 pm on the 30th in the conference room of the Seoul Supreme Court. Provided by the Supreme Court

In November last year, Justice Oh Seok-jun was appointed as the first Supreme Court justice to succeed the Yoon administration. Supreme Court Justice Oh was proposed as the first Supreme Court candidate by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration in July last year when he was serving as the head of the Jeju District Court. After 119 days, he was appointed to the Supreme Court. In addition, the Supreme Court, the highest body of the judiciary, faces the appointment of personnel on a large scale. A representative person is the successor to Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo, whose term ends in September. In January of the following year, Justices Min Yoo-sook and Ahn Cheol-sang, Justices Noh Jeong-hee, Lee Dong-won, and Kim Seon-seon were also installed in July, and Supreme Court Justices Kim Sang- hwan in December. to retire If the scope is extended to May 9, 2027, when the term of the Yoon administration ends, the terms of Supreme Court Justice Roh Tae-ak will be in March 2026, Lee Heung-gu in September, and Chun Dae-yeop in May 2027 also ends. . If a new Supreme Court justice is appointed in his place, all 13 of the 14 Supreme Court justices (including the Chief Justice), with the exception of Justice Oh Gyeong-mi, will be filled by justices appointed by the Yoon government. Reporter Kwon Ji-dam gonji@hani.co.kr