Should I hand the ball over to the National Assembly? There may be pressure to withdraw the appointment recommendation due to 'long-term reservation'

Regarding Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's 'written recommendation' of Chief Judge Son Bong-ki (60) of the Daegu District Court and Chief Judge Kim Seong-soo (57) of the Seoul High Court as final candidates for Supreme Court Justice on the 18th, the Blue House did not issue an official response the following day, the 19th.

Of course, there is an angry reaction within the Blue House, saying that Chief Justice Cho unilaterally made the recommendation in a situation where proper consultation was not carried out. However, if the Blue House, which is the command center of state affairs, directly clashes with the judiciary, the repercussions are considerable, so the tone is interpreted to be to handle the issue as carefully as possible.

Now, the attention of the political world is focused on whether President Lee will actually appoint the two candidates recommended to him.

Some speculate that President Lee may postpone the appointment process for a long time, judging that this recommendation was inappropriate.

According to the current Court Organization Act, in the case of appointment of Supreme Court Justices, it is only stated that 'the President appoints them upon the recommendation of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and with the consent of the National Assembly', and it does not specify the President's authority to refuse the appointment.

Instead, if the National Assembly's consent process is not sought for a long time, it can be interpreted as a de facto refusal to do so, and this can soon become a message of pressure to Chief Justice Cho urging him to 'withdraw the recommendation.'

The other way is to send a motion for appointment of candidates to the National Assembly as is and hand the ball over to the National Assembly.

Considering the current trend of the ruling party, which occupies a majority of seats, there are observations that it will not be easy for Candidate Son to pass the plenary vote.

As a result, this can be seen as a way to reduce the political burden on the Blue House while eliminating Candidate Son, but there is also concern that it may be criticized for 'requesting a vote for a candidate who will not be appointed.'

In light of this possibility, it is also possible to consider sending only the appointment motion for Candidate Kim to the National Assembly and not sending the appointment motion for Candidate Son.

However, this too is likely to face opposition from the opposition party, which claims that the president selectively appoints only certain candidates among the multiple candidates proposed.