▲ Cho Hee-dae, chief justice of the Supreme Court, arrives at the Supreme Court in Seoul on Sept. 22, 2026. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae said Tuesday he cannot comply with the presidential office's request to re-recommend a candidate for a top court justice post, saying he could find no constitutional grounds for doing so.

Last month, the presidential office had asked Cho to recommend a new candidate after taking issue with his written recommendation of two Supreme Court justice nominees to President Lee Jae Myung.

Cho told reporters on Monday that the document concerning the request "does not specify the reasons for requesting a re-recommendation or the constitutional grounds for the request."

"I cannot find any other specific constitutional grounds or reasons to justify the request for re-recommendation," Cho said. "I therefore state that I cannot comply with the request."

Cho had recommended Son Bong-kie of the Daegu District Court and Kim Sung-soo, then a Seoul High Court judge, to be appointed as new Supreme Court justices by the president.

Usually, the chief justice visits the president to make a face-to-face recommendation for a new Supreme Court justice after prior coordination.

Cho instead notified the presidential office of his recommended nominees in writing after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on Son's nomination.

Last week, Kim Sung-soo was appointed as a new Supreme Court justice following the National Assembly's approval of his confirmation.

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