Moon Hyung-bae, Acting Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, "All Efforts Devoted to Swift and Fair Trials in Socially Significant Cases"

Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae of the Constitutional Court stated on the 31st, "We will deploy all the capabilities of the Constitutional Court to ensure swift and fair trials in recently received socially significant cases." Socially significant cases are interpreted to refer to cases such as the impeachment trial of President Yoon Seok-yeol.

Moon Hyung-bae Acting Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court

In his 2025 New Year's address distributed that day, Acting Chief Justice Moon said, "The current constitution was born in 1987 from the people's desire to overthrow the authoritarian regime and restore democracy, and the Constitutional Court was designed as the last bastion to protect that constitution," adding, "To protect the people who have overcome numerous democratic crises and built today's Republic of Korea, the Constitutional Court will strive to ensure the constitution functions accurately in reality."

Acting Chief Justice Moon also said, "I am well aware of your great concerns regarding the delays in constitutional trials over the past few years," and expressed, "On behalf of the members of the Constitutional Court, I apologize." He continued, "The Constitutional Court will implement institutional improvement measures as soon as possible," emphasizing, "We will strengthen the research division's capabilities through selection and concentration, enhance the cooperation system between the research division and the secretariat, and adjust the functions of the Constitutional Court Research Institute and the library to contribute more to constitutional trials."

As one of the measures to resolve delays in constitutional trials, Acting Chief Justice Moon emphasized the need for legal amendments related to extending the retirement age of constitutional researchers. He requested the legislature, saying, "Compared to judges and professors whose retirement age is 65, the retirement age of constitutional researchers is 60, causing competent constitutional researchers to leave the Constitutional Court," and asked, "Please extend the retirement age of constitutional researchers to be the same as that of judges and professors." He also added, "Please regulate the staffing of the Constitutional Court Research Institute, which is controlled in terms of both budget and law, in the same way as the Judicial Policy Research Institute, which is only subject to budget control."

Meanwhile, regarding the Muan Airport Jeju Air passenger plane disaster that occurred on the 29th, Acting Chief Justice Moon expressed, "I offer my deepest condolences to those who lost their lives and extend my sympathies to the bereaved families who are enduring the pain of loss."