Constitutional Court Justice Candidates Considered... Controversy Over Potential Conflict of Interest Due to Lee Seungyeop's Role as President Lee's Attorney

Controversy Over Constitutional Court Justice Reviewing Cases Related to President Lee

The Office of the President is reportedly considering Oh Youngjun, Chief Judge at the Seoul High Court, Wi Gwangha, Judge at the Seoul High Court, and Lee Seungyeop, attorney-at-law, as candidates for the new Constitutional Court Justice. Among them, attorney Lee Seungyeop previously represented President Lee Jae Myung in cases related to his legal risks, which has led some in the legal community to raise concerns about a potential conflict of interest.

President Lee Jae Myung. Photo by Yonhap News

On June 8, a presidential office official told reporters, "It is true that those individuals (Oh Youngjun, Wi Gwangha, Lee Seungyeop) are among the subjects of the vetting process for Constitutional Court Justice candidates," adding, "We are continuing to listen to opinions about them." Chief Judge Oh has served as Senior Judicial Researcher at the Supreme Court and as Chief Judge at the Seoul Central District Court. Judge Wi has held positions as a judge at the Seoul High Court and the Gwangju High Court. Attorney Lee Seungyeop is a former Constitutional Court researcher and Chief Judge at the Uijeongbu District Court. He began practicing law in 2017 and served as the managing partner at law firm LKB. Notably, he has represented President Lee in several criminal cases, including a violation of the Public Official Election Act, a perjury subornation case, and the Ssangbangwool illegal remittance to North Korea case. He also defended Lee in the 2018 "forcible psychiatric hospitalization of his older brother" case, which ended in a final acquittal.

As a result, both the political and legal communities have voiced concerns that appointing Lee as a Constitutional Court Justice could create a conflict of interest. This is because constitutional interpretation issues, such as those related to Article 84 of the Constitution concerning President Lee's criminal trials, may be brought before the Constitutional Court in the future. If the court handling President Lee's criminal case decides to proceed with the trial, Lee's side could request a competence dispute adjudication from the Constitutional Court against the court, regarding the interpretation of the non-prosecution privilege under Article 84 of the Constitution.

In addition, if amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act or the Election Act pass the National Assembly, and President Lee's criminal trial is suspended or a judgment of non-prosecution is issued, a constitutional complaint could also be filed. This could result in a situation where Lee, as a Constitutional Court Justice, would have to review cases related to President Lee that he previously handled as a lawyer. Cha Jinah, a professor at Korea University Law School, stated, "If Lee, as a Constitutional Court Justice, reviews cases at the Constitutional Court that he previously handled for President Lee, there is a clear potential for a conflict of interest," adding, "This appears to fall under Article 24, Paragraph 1 of the Constitutional Court Act, which stipulates grounds for recusal of justices."

As the opposition raised concerns about a conflict of interest regarding Lee's inclusion in the candidate pool,the Office of the President responded, "We do not understand which part is considered a conflict of interest or whether it means that anyone who has handled the President's cases should not serve in public office." In response, Kim Yongtae, Emergency Response Committee Chair of the People Power Party, wrote on Facebook that day, "The presidential office says it does not understand what constitutes a conflict of interest in response to the opposition's concerns," adding, "Given the basic principles of appointments and especially the judiciary's neutrality, it is difficult to understand their lack of understanding." He further stated, "It is almost unthinkable and highly unreasonable for a Constitutional Court Justice who was the President's defense attorney to deliberate on the President's criminal trial, and this would undermine the dignity of the national judiciary." After completing the vetting process for these candidates, the Office of the President plans to recommend two final candidates to President Lee, who will then nominate one as the Constitutional Court Justice.