Kim Myung-soo Nominates Seo Kyung-hwan and Kwon Young-jun as New Supreme Court Justice Candidates... Controversial Candidates Excluded

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

Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo has nominated 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 53, class 25), to President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 9th as successors to Supreme Court Justices Cho Jae-yeon and Park Jung-hwa, who will retire in July.

On this day, the Supreme Court stated, "Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo, pursuant to Article 104, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution, has today nominated to President Yoon the Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court, Seo Kyung-hwan, and Professor Kwon Young-joon of Seoul National University Law School as successors to Supreme Court Justices Cho Jae-yeon and Park Jung-hwa, who are scheduled to retire upon the expiration of their terms."

The Supreme Court added, "The Chief Justice, considering opinions from various sectors of society, sought to nominate the most suitable candidates as Supreme Court Justices. To this end, the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee publicly disclosed the major rulings or work records of eight recommended candidates and established an official opinion submission process to gather diverse views from both inside and outside the judiciary."

Furthermore, the Supreme Court stated, "Keeping in mind the public's expectation for diversification in the composition of the Supreme Court, while respecting the recommendations of the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee, the Chief Justice nominated Chief Judge Seo and Professor Kwon, who were judged to possess the fundamental virtues required of a Supreme Court Justice, including a firm belief in judicial independence and the protection of citizens' fundamental rights, consideration for socially vulnerable groups, commitment to protecting minority human rights, as well as insight capable of reflecting social diversity and reading changes of the times, along with extensive legal knowledge and rational and fair judgment abilities."

Seo Kyung-hwan, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court, was born in Seoul and graduated from Konkuk University High School and Seoul National University 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 Review Officer 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.

Kwon Young-joon, Professor at Seoul National University Law School, is from Daegu and graduated from Daegun High School and Seoul National University 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, he was appointed as an assistant professor at Seoul National University College of Law. He later became an associate professor at Seoul National University Law School and is currently a professor there. He holds various positions including member of the National Intellectual Property Committee, chairman of the Legal Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Justice, vice president of the International Association of Commercial Law, and vice president of the Korean Civil Law Association.

Earlier, on the 30th of last month, the Supreme Court Justice Candidate Recommendation Committee, chaired by Choi Young-ae (former Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission), held a review attended by all members to assess the suitability of candidates recommended from inside and outside the judiciary. From a total of 37 Supreme Court Justice candidates, eight were recommended to Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo as nomination candidates: Yoon Jun, Chief Judge of Seoul High Court (age 62, class 16); Seo Kyung-hwan, Chief Judge of Seoul High Court; Son Bong-gi, Chief Judge of Daegu District Court (age 58, class 22); Eom Sang-pil, Chief Judge of Seoul High Court (age 55, class 23); Kwon Young-joon, Professor at Seoul National University Law School; Park Soon-young, Judge at Seoul High Court (age 57, class 25); Shin Sook-hee, Standing Member of the Sentencing Commission (age 54, class 25); and Jeong Gye-seon, Chief Judge of Seoul Southern District Court (age 54, class 27).

Meanwhile, among the eight final candidates, Park Soon-young, Judge at Seoul High Court, and Jeong Gye-seon, Chief Judge of Seoul Southern District Court, who had been controversial due to specific political leanings, were not included in the nomination candidates.