Supreme Court Justice Park Young-jae was appointed as the new head of the National Court Administration.
The Supreme Court said on the 13th that it will appoint Justice Park as the successor to Chun Dae-yup as head of the National Court Administration. Justice Park is set to take office as National Court Administration Minister starting on the 16th. Chun will return to duties as a Supreme Court justice on the same day after completing a two-year term.
The head of the National Court Administration, under the direction of the chief justice, oversees judicial administration such as personnel, budgets, and facilities of the courts.
Born in Busan in 1969, Justice Park graduated from Baejeong High School and Seoul National University's law department, and was appointed a judge in 1996 as a 22nd-term graduate of the Judicial Research and Training Institute. He later served as personnel officer at the National Court Administration, professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, general planning deliberation officer at the National Court Administration, presiding judge at the Seoul Central District Court, presiding judge at the Busan High Court, presiding judge at the Seoul High Court, Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination at the National Court Administration, and Vice Minister of the National Court Administration before being appointed a Supreme Court justice on Aug. 2, 2024.
The Supreme Court said, "Justice Park has worked at courts at all levels for about 30 years, handling a wide range of trials and judicial administrative work," and noted, "He helped establish a gender-equal culture within the courts and successfully advanced several judicial policies, including adding judicial researchers and building the criminal e-litigation system and the future registry system, contributing to qualitative improvements in public judicial services."
In 2015, as Head of Team of the task force for reforming judicial training within the National Court Administration, Justice Park drew up a reform plan that included differentiation and optimization of programs by training course, activation of e-learning, and establishment of the Judicial Training Operations Council, laying the foundation for the current judicial training system.
In 2016, as head of the gender equality research group, Park introduced gender sensitivity education into judicial training and promoted measures to support victim recovery, including procedures for handling sexual harassment that respect victims' wishes and a gender equality counseling committee system, as well as the production of a gender equality guidebook.
The Supreme Court said Justice Park is "the right person who, based on proactive drive, outstanding communication skills, and leadership, will work tirelessly to realize a swift and fair judicial system for the public and to enhance public trust in the judiciary."
Last year, the new Minister Park served as the presiding justice in the Supreme Court appeal of a case involving alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act by then Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. The full bench of the Supreme Court at the time overturned the lower court ruling that had acquitted the candidate and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court.