Chief Justice Kim Myung-su Proposes Seo Kyung-hwan and Kwon Young-jun as New Supreme Court Justice Nominees (Comprehensive)

Next Month, Jo Jae-yeon and Park Jung-hwa Nominated for Supreme Court Justice Successors
Controversy Over Possible Nomination of 'Progressive' Supreme Court Justice Candidates Settled

From the left, Seokyung Hwan, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court, and Kwon Youngjun, Professor at Seoul National University School of Law.
[Photo provided by the Supreme Court]

Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo has recommended Seo Kyung-hwan, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court (age 57, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 21), and Kwon Young-joon, Professor at Seoul National University Law School (age 52, class 22), as successors to Supreme Court Justices Cho Jae-yeon and Park Jung-hwa, who will retire in July.

On the 9th, Chief Justice Kim met with President Yoon Suk-yeol and proposed the appointment of Chief Judge Seo and Professor Kwon from among eight Supreme Court justice candidates recommended by the Supreme Court Justice Recommendation Committee. Once President Yoon submits the appointment consent bill for the two candidates to the National Assembly, the Supreme Court justice appointment process will proceed in earnest. The Supreme Court Justice Recommendation Committee recommended eight candidates to Chief Justice Kim as nominees.

Chief Judge Seo, a native of Seoul, graduated from Konkuk University High School and Seoul National University’s Department of Law. He began his judicial career at the Seoul Western District Court and has served as ▲Judge at Seoul District Court ▲Judge at Seoul High Court ▲Litigation Counselor at the Court Administration Office ▲Chief Judge at Jeonju District Court ▲Research Judge at the Supreme Court ▲Chief Judge at Incheon District Court ▲Chief Judge at Seoul Western District Court ▲Chief Judge at Seoul Central District Court ▲Chief Judge at Gwangju High Court ▲Chief Judge at Seoul High Court ▲Senior Chief Judge at Seoul Bankruptcy Court ▲Chief Judge at Seoul Bankruptcy Court, and is currently serving as Chief Judge at Seoul High Court. At the Gwangju High Court, he presided over the second trial of the Sewol ferry incident, recognizing Captain Lee Jun-seok’s guilt for murder and sentencing him to life imprisonment.

Professor Kwon, originally from Daegu, graduated from Daegun High School and Seoul National University’s Department of Law. He began his judicial career at Seoul District Court and served as ▲Judge at Seoul Eastern District Court ▲Judge at Daegu District Court ▲Judge at the Planning and Coordination Office of the Court Administration Office (concurrently serving as Judge at Suwon District Court) before leaving the judiciary in 2006 to become an assistant professor at Seoul National University College of Law. He later became an associate professor and is currently a professor at Seoul National University Law School. He holds various positions including member of the National Intellectual Property Committee, chairman of the Ministry of Justice Legal Advisory Committee, vice president of the International Association of Commercial Law, and vice president of the Korean Civil Law Association.

Earlier, controversy arose when the Supreme Court Justice Recommendation Committee recommended progressive-leaning candidates Jung Gye-seon, Chief Judge of Seoul Southern District Court (age 53, class 27), and Park Soon-young, Judge at Seoul High Court (age 56, class 25), to Chief Justice Kim.

With criticism that the current Supreme Court composition is skewed toward progressives, there was analysis that if another progressive figure were recommended as a Supreme Court justice candidate, it would be difficult to avoid criticism that Chief Justice Kim was placing his own people before his retirement.

There were even rumors from the presidential office that if a progressive figure were recommended as a Supreme Court justice, President Yoon might exercise his veto power. However, the controversy was settled as Chief Justice Kim proposed moderate candidates to minimize disputes near the end of his term.