Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's father dies; statement on re-nominating Supreme Court justices likely to be delayed

Cho Hee-dae, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Korea, has lost his father. As a result, his statement on the Cheong Wa Dae's request to re-nominate candidates for Supreme Court justice, which had been expected this week, is also likely to be delayed.
According to the legal community on the 31st, Cho has recently been mourning his father's death and is keeping vigil at a funeral hall in a hospital in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. Visitors are being turned away, and the funeral procession is scheduled for the 1st.
The Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly had planned to summon Cho and Noh Gyeong-pil, Minister of the National Court Administration, as witnesses that day to ask directly about the process behind the written recommendation of Supreme Court justice candidates. However, Cho submitted a written statement saying he would not appear on the 28th. Only Noh is set to attend the National Assembly that day.
In the statement, Cho reportedly said, "Requiring the chief justice to testify about the exercise of the recommendation power, which is the Constitution's independent authority of the chief justice, goes against the separation of powers and judicial independence, and also runs counter to the purpose of Article 121 of the National Assembly Act, which does not impose an obligation on the chief justice to appear before the National Assembly or answer questions."
On the 18th, Cho recommended appointing Judge Son Bong-gi of the Daegu District Court as the successor to former Supreme Court Justice Rho Tae-ak, who graduated from the Judicial Research and Training Institute in the 16th class, and Kim Sung-soo, a senior judge at the Seoul High Court and a 24th-class graduate of the institute, as the successor to Supreme Court Justice Lee Heung-gu, who graduated in the 22nd class.
Ten days later, on the 28th, Cheong Wa Dae decided not to submit a consent bill to the National Assembly for Son and instead asked Cho to re-submit the recommendation. It said the written recommendation had been made unilaterally without substantive consultation, and therefore lacked procedural legitimacy. Kang Yoo-jung, Chief Presidential Spokesperson, said, "The chief justice's recommendation power is not a self-contained authority in itself, but one that must be exercised in a way that respects the president's substantive appointment power granted by the Constitution." For Kim, it said prior consultation had taken place and decided to submit the consent bill to the National Assembly.
When reporters met Cho on the evening of the 28th as he was leaving the Supreme Court of Korea building in Seocho-gu, Seoul, he said, "I am sorry for causing concern to the public," and said he would announce an official position within the week. Both the chief justice's written recommendation and the president's request for re-nomination are the first of their kind under the current Constitution.


[email protected] Kim Dong-gyu Reporter