Supreme Court: "Former Chief Prosecutor Who Habitually Assaulted Late Prosecutor Kim Hong-young Must Compensate State 850 Million Won"

The Supreme Court has finalized a ruling that former Chief Prosecutor Kim Dae-hyun (56, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 27), who assaulted the late Prosecutor Kim Hong-young leading to his death, must pay the state approximately 850 million KRW in reimbursement.

According to the legal community on the 22nd, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice No Jeong-hee) confirmed on the 26th of last month the lower court's partial ruling in favor of the plaintiff in the state's appeal lawsuit against former Chief Prosecutor Kim.

Prosecutor Kim Hong-young was found dead at his home in May 2016 while working at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office. He is known to have left a note expressing excessive work burden and pressure. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office investigation revealed that former Chief Prosecutor Kim, who was his superior, had habitually assaulted and verbally abused Prosecutor Kim Hong-young for two years. The bereaved family filed a damages lawsuit against the state, and in 2021, the court ordered the state to pay the family over 1.3 billion KRW through a compulsory settlement.

Subsequently, the state filed a claim for reimbursement against former Chief Prosecutor Kim for the same amount paid to the bereaved family. The first and second instance courts recognized only about 850 million KRW in payment responsibility for former Chief Prosecutor Kim, considering that the Government Employees Pension Service had paid the bereaved family compensation for death in the line of duty.

Former Chief Prosecutor Kim appealed this decision, but the Supreme Court found no issues with the lower court's ruling and dismissed the appeal without further review.

Meanwhile, former Chief Prosecutor Kim was prosecuted in October 2020 on assault charges related to this case, and in March last year, the Supreme Court confirmed an eight-month prison sentence.

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