Lawmakers from the pro-government bloc have introduced a bill that would require the Supreme Court chief justice to submit at least twice as many nominees as there are vacancies for Supreme Court justices, drawing sharp criticism from the opposition People Power Party, which called it "a clear violation of the Constitution."
Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Yong-min led the introduction of the bill on Monday, which would amend the Court Organization Act to mandate that the chief justice recommend at least double the number of candidates needed when nominating Supreme Court justices to the president. The bill was co-sponsored by 11 lawmakers in total, including Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Park Eun-jeong and Progressive Party lawmaker Son Sol, in addition to Democratic Party members.
PPP Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik, speaking at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly on Thursday, said the bill showed that "left-wing parties have made up their minds to dismantle the separation of powers in South Korea." Jeong said requiring the chief justice to submit multiple nominees to the president would amount to "surrendering part of the chief justice's nomination authority and handing it over to the president."
Jeong added that if the chief justice submitted multiple nominees and the president rejected them by demanding resubmission, it would create "a personnel ping-pong match," giving the president ever-greater control over Supreme Court justice appointments.
Jeong said the bill's own explanatory note explicitly states that it is meant to "guarantee the president's right of selection," calling that wording a brazen disclosure of its true intent. "This bill is designed to institutionally pave the way for a president facing five ongoing trials to freely pick and choose the judges presiding over those very cases," Jeong said. "If such a harmful law becomes entrenched as a system, the separation of powers will be distorted into a hierarchy among the three branches, and the judiciary will be reduced to a political colony of the administration."
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