Supreme Court Justice Kim Young-ran

The Supreme Court of Korea announced on July 23 that Choi Jong-young, chief justice of the Supreme Court, recommended Kim Young-ran (48, female, passed the 20th judicial examination), presiding judge at the Taejon High Court, for the nomination to succeed Justice Cho Moo-je, who will be resigning on August 17, to President Roh Moo-hyun.

If President Roh accepts Chief Justice Choi’s recommendation, the nomination for Kim must be moved at the National Assembly, and after a personnel hearing, the motion will be voted on.

If Kim does become appointed as Supreme Court justice after the motion is moved by the National Assembly, she would become the first woman in Korea’s judicial history to become a Supreme Court justice.

This recommendation makes it seem that the Supreme Court was accepting the demands coming in and out of the judiciary branch for a diversified justice group, and to get away from the point that they were “passive on protecting the basic rights of women and the minority.”

The Supreme Court said, “Chief Justice Choi considered the opinions of various sectors of the court and recommended Presiding Judge Kim after a thorough examination of her judging ability, health, disposition, personality, and service attitude for the people.”

The Court also added, “Presiding Judge Kim is a person of discretion with an extremely fine balanced sensibility, has the confidence of the court, and possesses a woman’s delicacy. She has been pointed as the most suitable candidate to meet the demands of this time for protecting the women and the minority.”

Kim was born in Busan and graduated in law from Seoul National University. With the passing of the 20th judicial examination, she started out as a judge at the Seoul District Court for civil affairs and was a judge at the Seoul High Court, judgment researcher at the Supreme Court, presiding judge at the Suwon District Court, professor at the Judicial Research & Training Center, and presiding judge at the Seoul District Court.

Her husband is lawyer Kang Ji-won, a former prosecutor who had been chairman of the Commission for Youth Protection.

Soo-Hyung Lee sooh@donga.com