Attorney Kim Seon-soo, Chief Judge of the Jeju District Court Lee Dong-won, Court Library Director Noh Jeong-hee (from left)

Attorney Kim Seon-soo (57, 17th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute); Lee Dong-won (55, 17th class), chief judge of the Jeju District Court; and Noh Jeong-hee (54, 19th class), director of the Court Library have been recommended as candidates to replace Supreme Court justices Ko Young-han, Kim Chang-suk and Kim Shin, who will retire on August 2.

Kim is a labor and human rights lawyer who had kept away from public office, and Lee and Noh are judges who did not graduate from Seoul National University and who have no experience of working at the National Court Administration. Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su appears to have nominated these figures after considering the fact that social demand for reforms in the judiciary are stronger than ever before due to the alleged abuse of authority over court administration by the Supreme Court when Yang Seung-tae served as chief justice.

On July 2, Chief Justice Kim announced that he recommended President Moon Jae-in appoint the three people as Supreme Court justices. Kim said, "We paid special attention to the public's expectations for more diversity in the Supreme Court," and added, "I believe the nominees are determined to realize social justice and to guarantee the people's basic rights, are aware of the need to protect minorities and the socially vulnerable, and are capable of reasonable and fair judgment."

Kim Seon-soo is the first to be nominated outside public office with no experience as a judge or prosecutor since 1980. He is a founding member of Lawyers for a Democratic Society and was the secretary in charge of judicial reforms in Cheong Wa Dae during the Participatory Government. He contributed to judicial reform policies such as the introduction of law schools and public jury trials.

Lee and Noh studied law at Korea University and Ewha Womans University respectively, and although both serve in chief judge positions, they have never worked at the National Court Administration. The latest nominations appear to have been mindful of the criticism of a high concentration of men in their fifties who graduated from Seoul National University (referred to by the Korean acronym seo-onam) in the Supreme Court. If Noh is appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court, four of the fourteen justices will be women--the highest ratio of women in the history of the court.

If President Moon submits his approval of the three nominees to the National Assembly, they will be appointed as new Supreme Court justices after a confirmation hearing and a parliamentary session at the National Assembly. When the new justices enter office, the number of Supreme Court justices recommended by Chief Justice Kim will increase to five including Ahn Chul-sang and Min You-sook, and this is expected to accelerate the court's reform efforts.