The ruling Democratic Party(DP) announced a plan to increase the number of Supreme Court justices from the current 14 to 26.

At a press briefing on Monday, the DP's special committee on judicial reforms said a related law will take force one year after its promulgation, with an annual increase of four justices over three years.

The reform plan also includes reorganizing the top court from the current structure of one full court and three units to two departments and six units. 

The committee chair, Back Hye-ryun, explained that the change is aimed at accelerating appeal reviews, adding that the new structure would effectively create two full courts.

Back said a panel composed of at least two-thirds of the justices would be formed for cases considered to have a big social impact.

In response to criticism that the reform plan's objective is for the ruling camp to dominate the judiciary, the committee chief said that, like President Lee Jae Myung, the next president would also have the authority to appoint 22 new justices, denying any room for political abuse.