Opposition parties castigated the presidential office Tuesday for retaining a rejected nominee for the Constitutional Court chief as its acting president, calling the move a "haughty" disregard of parliamentary and public sentiments.

Cheong Wa Dae said it would retain Kim Yi-su as the court's acting president for "the time being" without elaborating on when he would cease to lead the nine-member bench. The decision spawned speculation that he would stay on until his six-year term ends in September next year.

Last month, the National Assembly voted down Kim amid objections over his ideological orientation. Kim took over as the acting court chief in March after former chief Park Han-chul retired in January.

"It is fair to say that Kim has lost his legitimacy as both the acting chief and as a court justice, since the legislature that represents citizens rejected him," Jun Hee-kyung, the spokeswoman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, told reporters.

"No past government has ever stuck by a figure rejected by the legislature. ... This is a direct challenge to citizens beyond disregard for the parliament," she added.

The minor opposition People's Party echoed Jun's views, urging President Moon Jae-in to pick a new person to lead the top court.

"The decision to allow the rejected nominee to take the helm of the Constitutional Court is a clear disregard of the legislature and a challenge to the democratic principle of the separation of three powers," Kim Chul-keun, the party spokesman, told reporters.

"We urge (Moon) to normalize the operations of the Constitutional Court, the bulwark of basic law, by nominating a new court chief," he added.

Since Moon nominated him in May, Kim has been a source of an intense political dispute due mainly to his 1980 ruling against a pro-democracy activist and his minority view against the 2014 disbandment of a far-left party with members accused of pro-North Korean activities. (Yonhap)