Opposition finally agrees on hearing for Supreme Court justice nominee

The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) has cancelled boycotting the confirmation hearing for Park Sang-ok, Supreme Court justice nominee and former prosecutor. As a result, the hearing will be held at the National Assembly next Monday. Yoo Seung-min, the ruling Saenuri Party’s floor leader, and Woo Yoon-keun, the NPAD’s floor leader, agreed on this on Tuesday. It has been almost two months since the motion for the nominee was submitted to the National Assembly on Jan. 26.

The NPAD demanded Park’s resignation, taking issue with his track record as a junior prosecutor of a team that investigated Park Jong-chul whose death triggered a democratic uprising against the military regime in the 1980s. Although the party knew that it could not postpone the confirmation hearing indefinitely, it used “delaying tactics” as a bargaining chip.

As the Supreme Court justice nominee showed a willingness to advance through the confirmation hearing, the NPAD could apparently no longer stand the public criticism over the prolonged vacancy in the Supreme Court. As some hawkish lawmakers of the opposition party did not attend the meeting, the party seems to have accepted the confirmation hearing.

“We will probe into controversial issues at the confirmation hearing and make the nominee fail to pass the hearing,” said Park Wan-joo, the NPAD`s floor spokesman who is a member of the confirmation hearing special committee at the National Assembly.

The Saenuri Party proposed that the National Assembly should vote on the motion in the general meeting on April 7, but the schedule could change.