2023-11-30 06:26:46
Lee Jong-seok, candidate for Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, answers questions from lawmakers at a personnel hearing held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 13th./News 1
At the plenary session on the 30th, the National Assembly passed the motion to appoint Lee Jong-seok as Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court with 204 votes in favor, 61 once morest, and 26 abstentions out of a total of 291 votes. The vacuum was resolved 21 days following former director Yoo Nam-seok retired on the 10th.
On this day, the People Power Party protested once morest the Democratic Party’s sole push to convene the plenary session and held a sit-in protest in front of the plenary session condemning National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and the Democratic Party, and decided not to attend the plenary session, but only participated in the vote on the motion to appoint Lee candidate.
The National Assembly Special Committee on Personnel Hearing previously held a plenary meeting on the 28th and adopted a progress report on the personnel hearing that included both qualified and unqualified opinions on this candidate. Candidate Lee, a Justice of the Constitutional Court, was nominated by President Yoon Seok-yeol as a candidate for Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court on the 18th of last month.
This candidate is from Chilgok, Gyeongsangbuk-do and graduated from Kyungbuk High School and Seoul National University Law School. He has a close relationship with President Yoon Seok-yeol as he was a classmate of Seoul National University Law School (Class of 1979). He was appointed to the Constitutional Court on the recommendation of the Liberty Korea Party in 2018, when he was the senior director of the Seoul High Court. As a judge, he issued opinions such as the unconstitutionality of the ‘North Korea Leaflet Ban Act’, the constitutionality of the ‘Punishment Provisions for Possession and Acquisition of Expression Materials’ of the National Security Act, the unconstitutionality and invalidity of the ‘Investigation and Prevention Act’, the unconstitutionality of the Corruption Investigation Office Act, and the dismissal of the impeachment of Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min. During his time as a judge, he also ruled that two Samsung semiconductor workers who died from leukemia suffered industrial accidents.
At Candidate Lee’s personnel hearing on the 13th, issues such as his close relationship with President Yoon, his propensity for making decisions, and suspicions of false registration were raised. Candidate Lee said, “If appointed as the head of the Constitutional Court, I will do my best to ensure that the Constitutional Court stands firmly on the trust of the people,” and added, “I will increase efficiency and speed in all processes from case reception, hearing, and decision.”
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