It was reported that Chief Justice Jo Hee-de provided written notice in the process of recommending appointments to succeed former Supreme Court Justice Roh Tae-ak and Supreme Court Justice Lee Heung-gu.
The Supreme Court said on the 18th that Chief Justice Jo Hee-de recommended to President Lee Jae-myung the appointment of Son Bong-gi (60, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 22), chief judge at the Daegu District Court, and Kim Sung-su (57, class 24), chief judge at the Seoul High Court, as new Supreme Court justices.
Under current law, Supreme Court justices are appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the chief justice and with the consent of the National Assembly. However, as a matter of practice until now, the Blue House and the chief justice have consulted, after which the chief justice has personally gone to the president to make the recommendation.
This time, however, the recommendation of the justices reportedly did not involve prior coordination with the Blue House and was carried out in writing.
This recommendation concerns the currently vacant seat of former Justice Roh and the successor to Justice Lee, whose term ends in September.
Son Bong-gi, the chief judge at the Daegu District Court recommended to succeed former Justice Roh, was born in Busan and graduated from Dalseong High School and the Department of Law at Korea University. After being appointed a judge, Son served as a research judge at the Supreme Court and as a professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and also served as the president of the Daegu District Court.
Kim Sung-su, the chief judge who will succeed Justice Lee, was born in Hampyeong, South Jeolla, and graduated from Gwangju Inseong High School and the Department of Law at Hanyang University. Kim began a judicial career in 1998 as a judge at the Gwangju District Court and went on to serve at the Haenam branch of the Gwangju District Court, the Seoul High Court, as ethics and audit deliberation officer at the National Court Administration, as chief judge at the Jeju District Court, as senior chief judge at the Cheongju District Court, and as senior professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.