Supreme Court Justice Roh Tae-ak retires on March 3 without a successor nomination, making a prolonged vacancy on the nation's highest court inevitable. The situation is compounded by the resignation of Park Young-jae, National Court Administration chief, increasing operational burdens on the Supreme Court amid political push for judicial reform.
According to legal circles on March 2, Justice Roh concludes his six-year tenure on March 3. Nominated by former Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo and appointed by former President Moon Jae-in, Roh has served since March 4, 2020.
The Supreme Court Justice Recommendation Committee proposed four candidates on January 21 to succeed Roh: Son Bong-ki, presiding judge at Daegu District Court; Yoon Sung-sik, presiding judge at Seoul High Court; Park Soon-young, senior judge at Seoul High Court; and Kim Min-ki, senior judge at Seoul High Court. However, more than 40 days have passed without Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae submitting a nomination. By comparison, the most recently appointed Justice Ma Yong-ju was nominated just 12 days after the committee's recommendation.
The Supreme Court will operate with 13 justices for the time being. The court normally consists of 14 members including the Chief Justice. However, the Chief Justice and the National Court Administration chief typically do not participate directly in trials. A single vacancy inevitably affects both four-justice panel rulings and en banc deliberations.
"Given that each justice handling trials already manages a heavy caseload, even one vacancy creates significant burden," a Supreme Court official explained.
According to Supreme Court data, the court processed 41,732 final appeal cases in 2024, excluding election cases. Excluding the Chief Justice and administration chief, each justice handled an average of 3,478 cases annually. When Justice Ma's appointment took approximately 102 days amid former President Yoon Suk-yeol's impeachment proceedings, hundreds of cases became backlogged and en banc rulings were suspended from December 2024.
Additionally, Park, the National Court Administration chief, announced his resignation on February 27, taking responsibility for the three judicial reform bills covering judicial misconduct penalties, constitutional appeals against court rulings, and expansion of Supreme Court justices. Legal observers expect finding his successor will also take time after the Chief Justice accepts the resignation.
"If successor appointments are delayed, burdens on internal decision-making and external responses could increase," a legal industry source said.