Blue House and Supreme Court Head-on Collision Over Judicial Composition

The Blue House and Supreme Court clashed head-on over the selection of a Supreme Court justice.

According to political circles on the 23rd, the Blue House stated after Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's additional position statement that "attempting to exclude a legally recommended Supreme Court justice candidate from the scope of presentation itself undermines procedural fairness."

The Blue House took issue with the fact that although the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee recommended four candidates in accordance with the Court Organization Act, the Supreme Court individually contacted the candidates to confirm their intention to withdraw.

The conflict began with the selection of a successor to former Supreme Court Justice Noh Tae-ak.

The Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee recommended four candidates in January: Kim Min-gi and Park Soon-young, judges at the Seoul High Court, Yun Sung-sik, deputy chief judge at the Seoul High Court, and Son Bong-gi, deputy chief judge at the Daegu District Court.

Chief Justice Cho presented Son, the deputy chief judge, as a Supreme Court justice candidate on the 18th of last month, but the Blue House requested re-presentation on the 28th, citing "insufficient procedural completeness."

In response, Chief Justice Cho effectively rejected the request on the 22nd, stating "I cannot find specific constitutional grounds and reasons to justify the re-presentation request."

The Blue House immediately countered, saying that the belief that "the Chief Justice's right to present is superior to the President's appointment power is a constitutional violation" and that "the requirement that the President must appoint whoever the Chief Justice presents nullifies the President's appointment power."

Chief Justice Cho issued an additional statement a day later and countered again.

He stated that "the official document of the re-presentation request dated the 28th of last month does not clearly specify what the reason for the re-presentation request is" and that "specific grounds and reasons must be presented in the document's wording for procedures to proceed under the Constitution and law."

Regarding the "procedural defects in the presentation process" raised by the Blue House, he said it is "difficult to accept based on the provisions of the Constitution and law."

Regarding the expression "presidential acts under state law must be conducted through written documents" mentioned the previous day, he clarified that this does not mean there are formal defects in the Blue House's official document itself.

Chief Justice Cho stated regarding the prolonged vacancy of the Supreme Court justice position, "I am sorry for the inconvenience to the people" and "I will do my best to ensure the procedure is completed promptly."

At the center of the dispute is Article 104, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution.

The Constitution stipulates that a Supreme Court justice is "appointed by the President with the consent of the National Assembly upon the presentation of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court."

The Supreme Court maintains that there is no clear constitutional or legal basis for the President to demand re-presentation regarding a legally presented candidate, while the Blue House argues that the President's appointment power is likewise an independent constitutional authority, so the Chief Justice's presentation cannot effectively bind the President's judgment.

What began as a personnel conflict over a specific candidate has escalated into a collision over the scope of the President's appointment power, the Chief Justice's right to present, and the authority to compose the judiciary.

The successor position to former Supreme Court Justice Noh has remained vacant for over 200 days.

A political figure said, "The delay in the composition of the Supreme Court itself makes the normal operation of the separation of powers difficult," and "the longer the conflict persists, the greater the political burden becomes."