Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su has recommended to President Yoon Suk Yeol two candidates to be appointed as new justices at the nation's top court as two current judges are set to retire next month. 

The Supreme Court said Friday that Kim recommended Seoul National University(SNU) law school professor Kwon Young-joon and Seo Kyung-hwan, a senior judge at the Seoul High Court.

A graduate of Seoul National University, Kwon finished first place in the state bar exam and began his career at the Seoul Central District Court in 1999 after which he took a position as a professor at SNU law school in 2006.

Seo is also an SNU graduate and previously served as a Supreme Court judicial scholar and head of the Seoul Bankruptcy Court. While serving at Gwangju High Court, he handed down a life sentence to the captain of the Sewol ferry which sank in 2014, claiming some 300 lives in what was one of the deadliest maritime disasters in the country's history.

Following the recommendation, President Yoon will submit a motion for their appointment to the National Assembly. The procedure thereafter, which includes a parliamentary confirmation hearing, typically takes about a month.