[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The prosecution investigating Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo, who was accused of giving false explanations to the National Assembly regarding the rejection process of former High Court Chief Judge Lim Seong-geun's resignation, recently visited and questioned Kim In-gyeom, Chief Judge of the Seoul Family Court, who was serving as the Deputy Chief of the Court Administration Office at the time.
According to the legal community on the 1st, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Park Hyuk-soo) recently visited Chief Judge Kim and questioned him as a witness.
Chief Judge Kim, as the Deputy Chief of the Court Administration Office responsible for overseeing administrative affairs including judicial personnel matters at the time of Chief Justice Kim’s false explanation, is the person most familiar with the process in which former Chief Judge Lim submitted his resignation and Chief Justice Kim rejected it.
The former Chief Judge Lim’s legal counsel also claimed at the time that "Chief Judge Lim submitted his resignation to Chief Judge Kim just before meeting with Chief Justice Kim, and this was also reported to the Chief of the Court Administration Office."
Previously, the prosecution had notified Chief Judge Kim to appear several times, but as he did not respond, they proceeded with a visit investigation.
In February 2021, when the ruling party at the time, the Democratic Party, was pushing for impeachment of judges involved in the 'Judicial Scandal' case, allegations arose that Chief Justice Kim rejected former Chief Judge Lim’s resignation in May 2020 for that reason. In response to opposition party lawmakers, Chief Justice Kim explained in a submitted statement that "I never said that the resignation could not be accepted due to impeachment issues."
However, the day after Chief Justice Kim denied the allegations against him, a recorded conversation of the meeting released by former Chief Judge Lim contained vivid audio of Chief Justice Kim mentioning impeachment multiple times, saying "We need to consider political situations such as the National Assembly’s impeachment discussions."
Chief Justice Kim also stated at the time that "the resignation of Chief Judge Lim was not formally submitted," but former Chief Judge Lim revealed that he had submitted his resignation to the Chief of the Court Administration Office before meeting with Chief Justice Kim.
According to the recording, during the meeting with former Chief Judge Lim, Chief Justice Kim said, "Putting aside legal matters such as acceptance or submission of the resignation, I have to consider various influences and political situations," and added, "Now (the ruling party) is making a fuss about impeachment, so if I accept the resignation, what do you think the National Assembly will say?"
Chief Justice Kim also said, "I do not think the impeachment system is realistic or that impeachment should happen," but added, "For now, political situations are a different matter, so if I accept the resignation to prevent even mentioning impeachment, it would prevent impeachment discussions and could lead to criticism."
Subsequently, civic groups such as the Free Korea Patriotic Corps, Hwalbindan, and the Action Alliance for Establishing the Rule of Law filed successive complaints, and the People Power Party also filed a complaint against Chief Justice Kim in February 2021 for abuse of power, false official document creation and use, and obstruction of official duties. However, during the Moon Jae-in administration, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office only conducted written investigations of former Chief Judge Lim and Chief Judge Kim and did not pursue further investigation.
After the Yoon Seok-youl administration took office, the newly formed investigation team resumed the investigation last August by summoning former Chief Judge Lim as a witness.
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