Constitutional Court chief's retirement leaves 2 top courts without heads

▲ This photo shows Yoo Nam-seok (L), the president of the Constitutional Court, and Lee Jong-seok, a Constitutional Court justice, sitting side by side for a ruling on Oct. 26, 2023. (Yonhap)

court-leadership vacuum

Constitutional Court chief's retirement leaves 2 top courts without heads

SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- Constitutional Court President Yoo Nam-seok was to retire on Friday, leaving a leadership vacuum at the country's two top courts as the Supreme Court has been without a head since September.

President Yoon Suk Yeol named Lee Jong-seok, a current Constitutional Court justice, as its new chief last month, but a parliamentary confirmation hearing for Lee has been scheduled for Monday, nearly a month after the nomination.

Since 2006, no Constitutional Court president has taken office on time. When Yoo's predecessor Lee Jin-sung took office in 2018, the court president seat had been left vacant for 296 days.

The leadership vacuum is expected to lead to delays in rulings set for this month.

The Supreme Court has also been without a head for the 47th day Friday after former Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su retired on Sept. 24 and the opposition-controlled National Assembly rejected Yoon's first pick for the top court's chief, Lee Gyun-ryong.

The highest court has been led by an acting chief justice for the first time in three decades.

Earlier this week, President Yoon named Cho Hee-dae, a former Supreme Court justice, as the new chief.

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