The Supreme Court said on the 10th that Chief Justice Jo Hee-de appointed Justice Noh Kyung-pil (23rd class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute) as the new Minister of the National Court Administration effective on the 14th. It comes four months after Justice Park Young-jae (22nd class) resigned from the minister post.
The Minister of the National Court Administration oversees the judiciary's administrative affairs, a role concurrently held by one of the justices. The previous Justice Park was appointed minister in January this year. Minister Park served as the presiding justice in the appeal hearing last May of the case in which Lee Jae-myung, then the Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate, was charged with violating the Public Official Election Act. When Justice Park was appointed minister, the ruling bloc pressed for resignation.
Justice Park expressed intent to resign on Feb. 27 after the ruling bloc pushed through legislation for the so-called "three judiciary bills," including the introduction of a crime of legal distortion, the introduction of a constitutional complaint for trials, and an increase in the number of justices. Since then, Chief Justice Jo did not appoint a successor minister, and Vice Minister Kiu Jong of the National Court Administration has been serving in an acting capacity.
The new minister, Noh, was born in Haenam, South Jeolla, and graduated from Gwangju High School and Seoul National University with a degree in law. Appointed as a judge in 1997, Noh served as a research judge at the Supreme Court, a judge at the Seoul High Court, a presiding judge at the Gwangju High Court, a presiding judge and senior presiding judge at the Suwon High Court, and was appointed a Supreme Court justice in Aug. 2024.
With Justice Noh appointed as minister, there is speculation that Chief Justice Jo will recommend to President Lee Jae-myung the appointment of a justice to fill the vacant seat. Former Justice Roh Tae-ak retired on March 3 without a successor, and the Supreme Court has since maintained 13 justices. Under the 14-justice system, 12 justices handle trials, excluding the chief justice and the Minister of the National Court Administration.
Justice Lee Heung-gu will retire in September. If the recommendation for Lee's successor is not made in time, two Supreme Court seats could become vacant. In that case, 10 justices would have to handle trials. Against this backdrop, attention is on whether appointing Justice Noh as minister will advance discussions over recommending a successor justice.