President Lee Jae-myung on the 18th approved the appointment of Kim Sung-soo, 57, as a Supreme Court justice.
Kang Yu-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, announced the decision in a written briefing the same day. Kim, a native of Hampyeong in South Jeolla Province, graduated from Insung High School and Hanyang University's law school before passing the 34th bar examination. He completed the 24th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute.
After beginning his career as a judge at the Gwangju District Court in 1998, Kim served on the bench for about 28 years, handling civil, criminal and administrative cases. As a senior judge at the appellate level, he worked at the Cheongju bench of the Daejeon High Court, served as chief presiding judge at the Cheongju District Court and sat on the Suwon High Court. He also served as chief professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.
With the president's approval, Kim begins a six-year term on the Supreme Court. The National Assembly passed his confirmation motion at a plenary session the previous day, with 227 of 268 members present voting in favor, 28 against and 13 abstaining. Chief Justice Jo Hee-de had nominated him on the 18th of last month.
Meanwhile, the presidential office effectively returned the confirmation motion for Son Bong-gi, a presiding judge at the Daegu District Court whom Jo had nominated alongside Kim, saying the process "lacked procedural completeness." The office asked the chief justice to nominate a different candidate.
