Chief Justice Jo Hee-de said on the 6th that the Presidential Office's request for a new Supreme Court justice nomination "did not clearly state the specific reasons or constitutional basis," leading him to conclude that it would be difficult to move forward with the process.
Jo made the remarks in an opening statement at a parliamentary audit of the Supreme Court held by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the morning of the 6th. "I feel apologetic that the prolonged vacancy on the Supreme Court bench has caused concern among the public," he said.
Chief justices customarily leave after delivering opening remarks at such audits, but Jo remained in his seat after the committee, led by the Democratic Party, designated him as a general witness and demanded that he testify.
"We carefully reviewed the qualifications and abilities of the candidates recommended by the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee and continued consultations on the subsequent steps, but ultimately submitted the nomination without reaching a final agreement," Jo said.
He said the Presidential Office had sent an official document asking him to nominate a different candidate. "The document did not clearly state the specific reasons or constitutional basis for requesting that the appointment process for the already nominated candidate be halted and that another candidate be put forward," he said. "The contents alone made it difficult even to understand its intent."
"Under these circumstances, I judged that there were difficulties in proceeding with the subsequent steps," he added. "This was based on the principle that the chief justice's power to nominate, the National Assembly's power to consent and the president's power to appoint must each be respected in accordance with their constitutional meaning."
In January, the recommendation committee put forward four candidates to succeed former Supreme Court Justice Noh Tae-ak: Seoul High Court judges Kim Min-ki and Park Soon-young, Seoul High Court senior judge Yoon Sung-sik and Daegu District Court senior judge Son Bong-gi. But the Presidential Office and the judiciary failed to narrow their differences over the final nominee, and the standoff continued. In August, Jo broke with convention and nominated Son, a candidate not agreed upon with the Presidential Office. The Presidential Office then requested a new nomination, saying the process lacked procedural completeness, but Jo refused, demanding the reasons and constitutional basis for the request.
