Prosecutors Clear Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su of Allegations Regarding Official Residence Real Estate and Dinners

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo of the Supreme Court was cleared of charges related to the 'residence real estate speculation by his son and daughter-in-law' and the 'official residence dinner' allegations by the prosecution.

According to the legal community on the 17th, the Criminal Division 8 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Hyung-seok) dismissed the allegations of violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act against Chief Justice Kim last month in connection with the official residence real estate speculation case.

Chief Justice Myungsoo Kim / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

The prosecution judged that the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act did not apply, citing the absence of separate regulations restricting family use of the court official residence in the court residence regulations.

Chief Justice Kim's son and daughter-in-law lived in the Supreme Court Chief Justice's official residence from January 2018 to April 2019. There were suspicions that the son and daughter-in-law moved into the official residence to raise funds for the high-priced apartment payment after winning the subscription for an apartment in Sinbanpo, Seoul, in September 2017.

The Criminal Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Park Hyuk-soo), which investigated the official residence dinner allegations, also found no grounds for charges against Chief Justice Kim and decided not to prosecute.

In 2018, Kim's daughter-in-law, who was an in-house lawyer in the legal team of Hanjin Group at the time, held a dinner at the official residence with company colleagues, which caused controversy as it occurred shortly after the Supreme Court's full bench handed a suspended sentence in the 'nut rage' incident involving former Korean Air Vice President Cho Hyun-ah.

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