Justice of the Constitutional Court of Korea

The Constitutional Court of Korea is one of two highest courts in the court system of South Korea. It is composed of nine Constitutional Court justices (Korean: 헌법재판소 재판관; Hanja: 憲法裁判所 裁判官; RR: Heonbeopjaepanso Jaepangwan). One of the nine justices serves as the chief justice, official titled the President of the Constitutional Court. The number of Constitutional Court justices is specified in Article 111 Clause 2 of the Constitution of South Korea.

By Article 111 Clause 2 of the constitution, all of the Constitutional Court justices are appointed by the president of South Korea. However, following Article 111 Clause 3 of the constitution, three of the Constitutional Court justices should be appointed from candidates selected by the National Assembly, and another three should be appointed from candidates nominated by the Supreme Court chief justice. Thus, only three of nine Constitutional Court justices are directly appointed by the president of South Korea. They serve for a renewable six-year term under Article 112 Clause 1 of the constitution. All but two justices retired without renewing the term, citing the potential harm to judicial independence and outsize influence of the president of South Korea on the Constitutional Court.

According to Article 5 Clause 1 of the Constitutional Court Act, Constitutional Court justices should be at least 40 years old, qualified as an attorney, and have more than 15 years of career in legal practice or legal academia.