Kim Bok-hyeong

Kim Bok-hyeong (; born May 5, 1968), also romanized as Kim Bok-hyung, is a South Korean jurist who serves as a justice of the Constitutional Court of Korea. She was nominated by Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae on August 20, 2024, and officially appointed to the court by national President Yoon Suk Yeol on September 12, 2024, with her term officially beginning on September 21. She is the seventh woman to serve on the Constitutional Court after Justice Jung Jungmi.

Originally from Geoje, Kim graduated from the Seoul National University College of Law and the 24th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute before beginning her career as a judge for the in 1995. For the next 29 years, she served as a judge for courts in the areas of Seoul, Ulsan, Gyeonggi, Daegu, and Gangwon. In 2024, she was nominated and appointed to the Constitutional Court as a replacement for Justice Lee Eunae. During her tenure on the court, she has been classified as moderate conservative judge.

Early life and education Kim was born on May 5, 1968, in Geoje. Kim attended , where she graduated in 1987. Kim then transferred to the in 1997. In 2004, Kim transferred to the Seoul Central District Court and was promoted to the Seoul High Court in 2006. In 2021, Kim joined the as a chief judge before returning to the Seoul High Court in 2022. Kim did not advance to the second round of nine candidates who were recommended for nomination to the court.

Notable rulings On September 9, 2019, while serving as the presiding judge for a criminal division of the Seoul High Court, Kim rejected an appeal by a defendant sentenced to life in prison for the murder and dismemberment of the defendant's girlfriend. In making the court's ruling, Kim stated the life sentence was not unfair as defendant's crime was not accidental and the defendant's remorse was questionable. The defendant, who had raped his middle school-aged daughter, impregnated her, and abandoned her baby after it was born, was sentenced to fifteen years in prison by the first court, a sentence which was five years greater than the one requested by the prosecution. Kim Young-jun had initially been sentenced to ten years in prison by the first trial court for his role obtaining and selling illegally filmed adult videos and child pornography.

Constitutional Court of South Korea (2024–present)

Nomination On August 14, 2024, the Constitutional Court Justice Recommendation Committee recommended Kim and two other candidates, Kim Jeong-won who served as and Chief Judge Yoon Seung-eun of the Seoul High Court, as successors for Justice Lee Eun-ae who was set to retire in September 2024. On August 20, 2024, Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae nominated Kim for Justice Lee's seat on the Constitutional Court.

On September 10, 2024, the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Kim's nomination. During the hearing, questions involving First Lady Kim Keon-hee were frequently raised as Democratic legislators asked if it was appropriate to accept luxury handbags as gifts and if it was unconstitutional for the president to veto investigations of his spouse.

When asked if impeachment was being exploited for political purposes, Kim stated "it is clear that impeachment should not be exploited for political purposes" but acknowledged "whether impeachment is being exploited for political purposes or whether there are actual grounds for impeachment will be determined through a Constitutional Court review." One Democratic member of the committee stated "I wish she had a more progressive mindset, but I did not find any particular moral flaws during the hearing.”

Tenure By replacing Justice Lee Eun-ae, Kim's appointment to the Constitutional Court kept the number of women on the court at three. Having been classified by media outlets as a moderate conservative, her appointment reduced the progressive majority on the Constitutional Court from 6–3 to 5–4.

Personal life Kim is married with two daughters who were born in 2004 and 2006.