When will the appointment of the three vacant constitutional court judges be made?

[Anchor]

The opposition party plans to finalize the appointment of three vacant constitutional court judges by the end of this year.

However, it remains uncertain whether the ruling party will respond positively to this.

Reporter Lee Kwang-youl has the story.

[Report]

Currently, there are only six judges in the Constitutional Court.

The court has stated that it is possible to conduct hearings with a six-member system, but has shown concerns regarding rulings.

[Moon Hyung-bae/President of the Constitutional Court/Dec. 5: "(With a six-member system) I believe we can at least conduct arguments. (Is it possible to reach a decision then?) We will discuss that."]

Being aware of this controversy, both the ruling and opposition parties have recommended candidates for the constitutional court judges that had been postponed since the outbreak of the martial law situation.

The Democratic Party has recommended two candidates, while the People Power Party has recommended one candidate, leading to three candidates now facing the personnel hearing process.

The Democratic Party plans to pass the appointment consent motion in the National Assembly by the end of the year after the personnel hearing.

Once the appointment consent motion is passed, only the appointment procedure through the acting president remains.

There has been controversy over whether the acting president can exercise the appointment authority, but in 2017, while acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn did not exercise the appointment authority for the president's share of the constitutional court judges, he did appoint a Supreme Court judge nominated by the Chief Justice.


[Noh Hee-beom/Lawyer/Former Researcher at the Constitutional Court: "Since it is essentially an appointment process of formality, I believe there is no issue with the appointment being made by either the president or the acting president if the National Assembly recommends candidates."]

However, it is uncertain whether the appointment process will proceed as planned by the Democratic Party.

While the Democratic Party can pass the appointment consent motion unilaterally, if the ruling party objects, the acting president may delay the appointment citing bipartisan agreement.

There is also a possibility that serious disqualifications may be discovered during the personnel hearing process.

In such a case, the timing of the establishment of a nine-member Constitutional Court could become a variable in the future of the president's impeachment.

This is KBS News, Lee Kwang-youl.