Chief Justice KIM Myeongsu returned to Korea on Sunday, May 28, 2023, after his official visit to the United Kingdom.

Chief Justice Kim visited the Court of Appeal of England and Wales to meet with the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and met with members of the Judicial Appointments Commission on Monday, May 22. On May 23, Chief Justice Kim visited the Commercial Court of England and Wales. He paid a courtesy call to the President of the U.K. Supreme Court on May 24. Chief Justice Kim also met with the Lord President of the Court of Session in Scotland and met with Senators of the College of Justice at the Judicial Institute for Scotland on May 25.

Chief Justice Kim had an in-depth discussion on the judicial appointment system, training of judges, and the ways to further judicial cooperation that had been agreed upon in advance at each institution he visited.

The U.K. Supreme Court expressed that this visit was significant as the second official exchange between the heads of the two judiciaries since 2015, and the President of the U.K. Supreme Court and the Chief Justice of Korea agreed to continue expanding judicial exchanges in the future.

In addition, he had a meeting and shared his understanding of the judicial appointment system and judicial education of the two countries, paving the way for the improvement and development of our country’s judicial appointment system.

As the first Chief Justice to visit the highest courts of England, Wales, and Scotland, he laid the foundation for expanding exchange and cooperation between the two countries’ judiciaries. The two judiciaries were able to broaden judicial exchanges and gain a greater mutual understanding of the two judicial systems. With the official visit of the Chief Justice to the U.K., the judicial cooperation between the two judiciaries is expected to strengthen.