Court: "Moon Jae-in Government Cheongwadae Secretariat Must Disclose Special Activity Funds"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A court ruling has been made that the special activity expenses of the Moon Jae-in administration's Blue House and the protocol costs of First Lady Kim Jung-sook must be disclosed.

On the afternoon of the 10th, the Administrative Division 5 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Jeong Sang-gyu) partially ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the lawsuit filed by Kim Seontaek, chairman of the Taxpayers' Federation, against the Presidential Secretary Office Chief, seeking cancellation of the refusal to disclose information. Except for some personal information parts that are difficult to recognize the benefits of disclosure, the ruling states that the information decided to be undisclosed must be disclosed.

If this ruling is finalized, the Blue House Secretariat must cancel the decision made in July 2018 to withhold information and disclose some information to the Taxpayers' Federation.

Previously, the Taxpayers' Federation requested information disclosure from the Blue House in 2018, demanding the disclosure of the special activity expenses spent after President Moon's inauguration, categorized by payment date, payment amount, reason for payment, recipient, and payment method. The protocol costs of First Lady Kim were also included in the request.

On the other hand, the Blue House decided not to disclose, stating that "it includes sensitive matters such as national security, defense, and diplomatic relations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.