National Assembly approves 2 senior court justice nominees

The National Assembly on Thursday approved the nominations of two judges for Supreme Court justices. The two judges are Roh Kyung-pil, a senior judge at the Suwon High Court, and Park Young-jae, a senior judge at the Seoul High Court. The motion to approve of Roh's nomination passed the Assembly in a 272-10 vote with one abstention, while Park's nomination motion passed in a 269-12 vote with two abstentions. The two candidates and Lee Sook-yeon, a judge at the Patent Court, were earlier chosen by Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae to replace three outgoing justices at the top court. Lee's confirmation hearing, however, was delayed amid revelations that her daughter had earned a 63-fold profit by selling shares to her father after purchasing them with his money. In South Korea, all 14 Supreme Court justices are appointed by president with the consent of the National Assembly. Source: Yonhap News Agency