[2024 Asset Disclosure] Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae Reports 1.59 Billion KRW... Senior Judges Average 3.46 Billion KRW Reported

Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae reported a total of 1,590,740,000 KRW in assets under his own and his children's names. As of the end of last year, the average assets of high-ranking judges were 3,461,000,000 KRW.

The Supreme Court Public Officials Ethics Committee disclosed these details on the 28th through the official gazette as part of the "2024 Regular Asset Changes of Public Officials." This year's asset disclosure targets include a total of 142 individuals: the Chief Justice, Supreme Court Justices, High Court Chief Judges and above, and Vice Minister-level (political positions). Chief Justice Cho's assets are based on the date of his first inauguration on December 8 of last year and, as this is his first disclosure, he was excluded from change statistics. The remaining 141 individuals reported their assets as of the end of last year.

Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae / Photo by Joint Press Corps

Chief Justice Cho reported real estate assets totaling 2,434,000,000 KRW, including a multi-family house in Songpa-gu, Seoul, jointly owned with his spouse valued at 760,000,000 KRW; an apartment in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, owned by his spouse valued at 1,074,000,000 KRW; and a leasehold right for a neighborhood living facility in Suwon-si, Gyeonggi Province, also owned by his spouse, valued at 600,000,000 KRW.

The total deposits held by Chief Justice Cho, his spouse, and eldest son amount to 3,395,490,000 KRW. He also reported securities totaling 37,910,000 KRW, including unlisted stocks worth 24,819,000 KRW and 6,618,000 KRW held by himself and his spouse, respectively. Chief Justice Cho explained during his candidacy in December last year that "these were gifts from my in-laws, and I have been simply listed as a shareholder for over 30 years." He also reported private loans amounting to 48,800,000 KRW held by his spouse. Additionally, debts totaling 1,300,000,000 KRW, including apartment and house rental deposits, were disclosed.

The average assets of the 141 high-ranking judges subject to this regular disclosure were approximately 3,460,000,000 KRW, down about 410,000,000 KRW from the previous year.

The wealthiest high-ranking judge is Yoon Seung-eun, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court, who reported total assets of 20,251,000,000 KRW, an increase of about 380,000,000 KRW from last year. Deposits were the largest at 11,839,070,000 KRW, followed by spouse's equity investment of 3,262,700,000,000 KRW, securities worth 2,895,560,000 KRW, real estate such as apartments totaling 2,662,000,000 KRW, and deposits of 2,195,600,000 KRW.

Following him were Lee Seung-ryeon, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court with 17,694,650,000 KRW, and Moon Kwang-seop, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court with 15,246,780,000 KRW. There are a total of seven high-ranking judges with assets exceeding 10 billion KRW.

On the other hand, the high-ranking judge with the least assets is Lim Sang-gi, Senior Chief Judge of the Suwon High Court, who reported assets of 124,260,000 KRW. Next were Cheon Dae-yeop, Director of the Court Administration Office, with 315,140,000 KRW, and Kim Seong-su, Senior Professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, with 351,990,000 KRW.

The high-ranking judge whose assets increased the most compared to the end of 2022 is Lee Seung-ryeon of the Seoul High Court, whose assets grew by 5,804,280,000 KRW in one year. He explained that gifts and his spouse’s business income were the main reasons. Lee Gyun-yong, a research judge at the Seoul High Court who was dismissed from the Supreme Court, reported previously omitted assets such as unlisted stocks in Oksan and Daeseong Automobile Academy during the confirmation hearing process, increasing his assets by 1,057,270,000 KRW in one year.

The high-ranking judge whose assets decreased the most in one year is Kim Si-cheol, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court, whose assets dropped by 1,473,180,000 KRW, due to refusal to disclose information regarding direct descendants (eldest son). Kim Dae-woong, Chief Judge of the Seoul High Court, also saw a decrease of 1,488,410,000 KRW due to gift tax payments and changes in asset values.

A representative of the Supreme Court Public Officials Ethics Committee stated, "Within three months after the asset disclosure, we will complete the review of all disclosure targets and take measures such as warnings and disciplinary requests as stipulated by the Public Officials Ethics Act against those who fail to report assets faithfully or omit assets."