Lee Yong-hun Appointed as Chief Justice Candidate

Lee Yong-hun Appointed as Chief Justice Candidate. August. 19, 2005 03:04. by Jung-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com.

President Roh is expected to appoint Lee Yong-hun, current chairman of the Government Employees Ethics Committee, as a Chief Justice candidate and ask approval from the National Assembly for this on August 18.

Lee will start a six-year-term following current Chief Justice Choi Jong-young if he is officially appointed through a confirmation hearing and a vote of the National Assembly.

After his official appointment, Lee will have the right to select nine justices of the Supreme Court who will retire this coming July. Depending on his selection, the current conservative Supreme Court could go through a transformation. The Supreme Court, which hands down ultimate rulings and can reverse existing precedents, consists of 14 justices, including the chief justice.

Lee has served as a judge at the Seoul High Court, a Supreme Court justice, the chairman of the Government Employees Ethics Committee, and a minister of Court Administration, and was one of the defense counsel members at the impeachment trial of President Roh last year.