Constitutional Court nominee nixed
2 votes short of passage
The National Assembly voted down the confirmation of President Moon Jae-in’s pick for Constitutional Court president, Kim Yi-su, Monday, dealing a blow to the President’s efforts to fill in the leadership vacuum at the country’s top judicial body with an ideologically-disputed figure.
Kim fell two votes short of winning endorsement, as 145 out of 293 lawmakers who cast ballots voted against him, 145 voted in favor but two others abstained while the remaining vote was void.
He is the first Constitutional Court chief nominee to fail to get preliminary approval in the country’s history.
This is also the first time that the Assembly has voted down Moon’s pick for a top government job.
The rejection of Kim came amid disputes over his rulings and political beliefs.
Conservatives questioned Kim’s “progressive inclinations,” pointing out that he was the only justice on the nine-member panel who opposed the Constitutional Court ruling that disbanded the ultra-left Unified Progressive Party in December 2014.
During a confirmation hearing in June, Kim also had to apologize over handing down rulings against citizen protesters who fought against then-military dictator Chun Doo-hwan during the 1980 democratic uprising in Gwangju.
Kim was targeted by the two conservative parties — the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and Bareun Party — as well as the center-right People’s Party for allegedly advocating same-sex relationships in the military.
The parliamentary disapproval of Kim will extend the leadership vacuum at the Constitutional Court since its president, Park Han-chul, retired in January.
Kim has been serving as the court’s acting chief since March.
His failure to win parliamentary endorsement is expected to deepen the controversy over Cheong Wa Dae’s screening process on candidates for top government posts.
A total of five candidates other than Kim were nominated by Moon for such jobs but later withdrew from consideration amid controver- sy over their eligibility.
Meanwhile, the presidential office criticized the Assembly for being making an “irresponsible” decision. It especially accused the opposition bloc of “playing devil’s advocate.”
“This was unimaginable, considering no Constitutional Court chief nominee failed to win the Assembly’s endorsement ever before,” Moon’s chief press secretary Young-chan said during a press briefing. “There had been attempts to link pending political issues with Kim. But I never imagined the opposition would vote down his confirmation as he did not have any par- ticular shortcomings that could lead to votes against him.”
Yoon claimed the decision will be recorded as the “worst precedent that exploited” constitutional order for political purposes.
“The leadership vacuum at the Constitutional Court will continue and the people will know for sure who is responsible for this,” he said.
In a separate briefing, Jun Byung-hun, the senior presidential secretary for political affairs, criticized the Assembly for committing the “tyranny of the majority.”
“It was too despotic for the Assembly, forcing a flawless candidate to fall,” he said. “Our people will calmly yet coldly assess what happened today. We’ll never give up dialogue and communication and I hope that the opposition parties practice cooperative politics.”
Some political sources speculated that the decision against Kim may deal a blow to both ruling and opposition parties.
They claimed that the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) will be under mounting pressure to better coordinate political issues with the opposition, especially the People’s Party.
Citing Moon’s high popularity, some analysts said the main opposition LKP will face criticism from the public ahead of local elections next year.
The two minor opposition parties — the Bareun Party and the People’s Party are expected to be held accountable for not fully cooperating with the DPK concerning Kim’s fate.
The Assembly had wrangled last week over whether to set up a vote on Kim amid the LKP’s legislative boycott over an arrest warrant issued for the head of a local broadcaster.