February 28, 2025
Seoul – Acting President Choi Sang-Mok was responsible for naming the ninth judge the court, and failure to do so would constitute a violation of the rights of the Legislature in a ruling to condemn the National Assembly in December last year.
In a unanimous 8-0 ruling, the court ruled that the acting president refused to appoint nominee Ma Eun-Hyuk as the ninth most judge after selectively appointing judges of two other judges nominated by parliament. Parliament has nominated three judges to fill the vacancies of nine members of nine in the second half of last year.
However, the court rejected the National Assembly's claim that the court could require the acting president to immediately name the Ninth Justice.
Acting President Choi serves as deputy prime minister and has not yet appointed the ninth justice. But if Choi does appoint MA, a new debate could emerge as to whether MA is eligible to join the eight current justices to make the Constitutional Court’s judgment on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment. His role in the ruling could be challenged as Ma was unable to participate in the complaint ended Tuesday.
A government official said on Thursday anonymous condition that Cui “respects the Constitutional Court's ruling,” adding that he would “judgment against the court” before any ruling was made.
National Assembly Speaker Rep. Woo Won-Shik told reporters Thursday that Acting President Choi “should quickly complete the process of appointing MA.”
The liberal opposition Democrats, the leader of South Korean floor leader Rep. Park Chan-dae, echoed Woo, referring to the court's ruling as “reaffirming common sense” while urging Choi to apologize for his “unconstitutional conduct.”
The left-leaning figure in Massachusetts is a senior judge in the Western District Court of Seoul.
If Choi is approved, the MA will fill the last remaining vacancy in the Constitutional Court, which has not had a complete bench since October. The court adopted the Yoon improvisation trial as early as March.
Yoon's legal team condemned the Constitutional Court's ruling in a statement Thursday, saying the court had become a sympathizer of the opposition and abandoned its role as a mediator.
It also argued that the case contained one aspect of procedural violations, raised only without the approval of the National Assembly. This is in stark contrast to the views of eight Constitutional Court judges on Thursday, the process is flawless, as Woo gained parliamentary support respectively.
Rep. Kweon Seong-Dong, the floor leader of the Conservative BJP, told reporters Thursday that Choi should not approve the appointment of the MA and that the court ruling did not force the acting president to appoint him.
The ruling comes nearly two months after Acting President Choi appointed two of the three Constitutional Court judicial candidates nominated by the National Assembly on January 1, and the opposition-led resolution called for parliament approval on December 26.
Earlier on December 9, the National Assembly recommended the MA with Left-leaning Judge Chung Kye-Sun, who was then head of the Seoul Western District Court. Rightist cho Han Chang, who was the lawyer at the time, served in the Constitutional Court as a candidate. This follows the implementation of martial law on Yoon on December 3.
But rival parties debated whether the nominations in early December were based on bipartisan compromises.
After Choi approved, Zhong and Qiao managed to fill the judicial vacancy in the Constitutional Court in January. However, no appointment has been made.
WOO, Speaker of the National Assembly, filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court on January 3.
