[2024 National Audit] Cheon Daeyeop, Director of Court Administration, on Kim Yeosa's Nomination Interference: "Inappropriate Conduct"

"In response to questions about 'Lee Jae-myung trial delay,' it is said that 'requests are inappropriate'"

Cheon Dae-yeop, Chief of the Court Administration Office, expressed on the 7th that the suspicion of Kim Geon-hee's 'intervention in candidate nomination' seems to be "an inappropriate act."

On the same day, during the Supreme Court audit by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, Cheon responded to a related inquiry from Kim Yong-min, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, saying, "We need to look at the overall context, but it seems to be an inappropriate act."

Cheon Dae-yeop, Chief of the Court Administration Office, is responding to a lawmaker's question at the Supreme Court audit by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 7th. Photo by Supreme Court

The suspicion of 'Kim Geon-hee's intervention in candidate nomination' involves Kim Dae-nam, a former presidential office administrator, who, after being excluded from the nomination in the last general election, was employed at SGI Seoul Guarantee, and Lee Won-mo, a former personnel secretary of the presidential office, was strategically nominated for this position. There is suspicion that Kim Geon-hee intervened in this process.

When Representative Kim asked, "I naturally consider this a candidate bribery crime; what is your view?" Cheon replied, "We need to look at the overall context, but it seems to be an inappropriate act."

When Representative Kim mentioned Kim Geon-hee again and asked, "I consider this a violation of the Public Official Election Act; please share your position," Cheon said, "I am not well aware of the context, so it is difficult to make a definitive statement on a specific matter, but it seems to be an inappropriate issue."

Regarding this, a Court Administration Office official explained, "It was a general statement about the candidate bribery crime, not about a specific case."

Cheon avoided a direct answer to the suspicion that President Yoon Seok-yeol received free opinion poll results during the presidential election, saying, "I do not hold a position appropriate to give a hypothetical answer."

Meanwhile, in response to the criticism by Kwak Gyu-taek, a member of the People Power Party, that the trial of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, is excessively delayed, Cheon stated, "Regarding individual trials, it is the role of the presiding judge and the trial panel, so it is not appropriate for me to make requests," but added, "All trials in the Republic of Korea must be conducted promptly, fairly, and faithfully. Judges are committed to making their best efforts in this regard, and I feel deeply sorry that we are currently falling short."

However, Cheon emphasized that the court has achieved meaningful results in resolving trial delays this year. He said, "Looking at the figures so far, compared to the same period last year, the number of long-term unresolved cases and the long-term unresolved rate have significantly improved," adding, "I will be able to report confidently soon."

Regarding the cause of trial delays, he stated, "The complexity of cases continues to increase, but the number of judges has remained the same for 10 years. That is the biggest problem."

On the point that sentencing guidelines related to deepfake crimes need to be established promptly, Cheon responded, "It is structurally difficult to immediately reflect newly emerging crimes in sentencing guidelines," but said, "We will share the situation awareness and review it to reflect it faithfully."