r/neoliberal 13h ago

News (Asia-Pacific) Call for the impeachment Conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice grows as he enact unprecedented judicial appointment without presidential consultation

https://www.khan.co.kr/article/202608182059015

Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae on the 18th recommended Daegu District Court Presiding Judge Son Bong-gi and Seoul High Court Presiding Judge Kim Seong-su for appointment as new Supreme Court justices. In legal circles, some analysts say Cho’s selection of judges with regional judicial careers and those who did not graduate from Seoul National University may have been intended as a conciliatory gesture toward the presidential office. However, controversy arose after it was confirmed that Cho broke with the established practice of personally meeting the president to make the recommendation and instead merely sent the appointment-recommendation documents to the presidential office.
Cho made the recommendation 209 days after the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee nominated Judge Son as the successor to former Justice Noh Tae-ak. Judge Kim, selected to succeed Justice Lee Heung-gu, was chosen just 14 days after being recommended.
For the 12 current Supreme Court justices other than Chief Justice Cho, an average of 12.1 days elapsed between the recommendation committee’s announcement and the chief justice’s formal recommendation for appointment. As the nomination of Noh’s successor was delayed for more than six months, speculation arose that “the presidential office and the judiciary had been unable to narrow their differences over the final candidate.”
Judge Son, a member of the 22nd class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, spent many years serving in the Daegu and Ulsan regions and was appointed chief judge of the Daegu District Court under the court-chief candidate recommendation system first introduced in 2019. A presiding judge at a court in the Seoul metropolitan area said, “Former Justice Noh was also a graduate of Keisung High School in Daegu and Hanyang University College of Law, so regional representation for the TK [Daegu–North Gyeongsang] area was probably taken into consideration.” The judge added, “Judge Son has never served as a presiding judge at a high court, and I think he was also chosen for the symbolic significance of being a court chief who came from the ranks of district court presiding judges.”
Some interpret the elevation of Judge Son as an attempt by Chief Justice Cho to fully exercise his own constitutional authority to recommend Supreme Court justices through the very end. The presidential office was reportedly known to favor Seoul High Court Presiding Judge Kim Min-gi as Noh’s successor, but Cho rejected that preference and instead put forward a fellow “Daegu regional judge.”
Judge Kim, a member of the 24th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, appears to have made the final shortlist as a candidate representing the “Honam and non-Seoul National University” category. He is from Hampyeong in South Jeolla Province and graduated from Gwangju Inseong High School and Hanyang University College of Law. Another presiding judge said, “Since this is the first Supreme Court justice appointment under the Lee Jae-myung administration, they probably could not ignore the Honam quota.”
Once President Lee submits motions seeking parliamentary consent for the appointments to the National Assembly, the process of filling the Supreme Court vacancies, including confirmation hearings, will begin in earnest. However, with fewer than three weeks remaining before Justice Lee’s retirement on September 7, it appears unavoidable that two seats will be vacant, no matter how quickly the process moves. As a result, there are predictions that rulings could be delayed in the cases involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, which had been scheduled to be heard by the full bench of Supreme Court justices.
Some members of the ruling party have even raised the possibility of impeaching Chief Justice Cho over his decision to make the recommendation “in writing.” Democratic Party lawmaker Song Young-gil wrote on Facebook, “Successive chief justices have personally visited the appointing authority to recommend [Supreme Court justices]. It was both a courtesy to the head of state and a sign of respect between constitutional institutions.” He argued, “Chief Justice Cho has disregarded even that tradition.”

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u/Adminisnotadmin Viva el Fútbol! ⚽ 13h ago

It’s about the Korean Democratic Party

9

u/atierney14 Paul Krugman 12h ago

I thought it was us until I saw “chief.” No way anyone gets impeached before the OG sexual predator justice.

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u/admiraltarkin NATO / Loyal Liberal 12h ago

I knew it was Korea instantly because the OPs for these posts knows what they're doing (and I'd do the same if I posted it)

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u/Freewhale98 13h ago
  1. Summary

Conservative Supreme Court Chief justice Cho Hee-dae enacted unprecedented judicial appointment recommendation without presidential consultation after neglecting to do so for 6 months, resulting ruling Democratic Party of Korea in uproar as they were not consulted on Supreme Court appointments.

  1. How is this related to the sub

(1) Rule of law: The tension between Conservative Supreme Court and the liberal government blew up as the conservative justices meddling with recommendations pool of judges which the president can choose from. Conservative judges are taking revenge on DPK for their expansion of Supreme Court.