Supreme Court Justices' Incentive Payments Debated at Audit Board... Kim Eui-gyeom: "Chief Justice's Secretary Went Around Justices' Offices Handing Out Cash" [2026 Parliamentary Audit]

The incentives paid to Supreme Court justices were also a point of contention during the Board of Audit and Inspection’s parliamentary audit
Board of Audit and Inspection chairman: "We assess that the incentives for Supreme Court justices were paid by

The issue of incentive payments made to Supreme Court justices and others also became a point of contention during the Board of Audit and Inspection’s parliamentary audit. Citing the audit findings, the Democratic Party of Korea claimed that the findings confirmed Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae had made incentive payments. The People Power Party, meanwhile, pointed to cases in which such payments were made during the tenure of former Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su, seeking to emphasize that the issue was not unique to the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Cho.

Kim Eui-gyeom, the Democratic Party’s floor representative on the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, reviewed materials the Board of Audit and Inspection had obtained from the Supreme Court and other documents on October 12, then disclosed the procedure for making incentive payments to Supreme Court justices and others. “I just reviewed two documents: a payment authorization form and a response to the Board of Audit and Inspection’s request for materials,” Kim said. “According to the payment authorization form, the disbursement officer mentioned by Chief Justice Cho withdraws cash and takes it to the chief justice’s chief of staff. The secretary then goes from room to room to the 13 Supreme Court justices, handing out 1 million, 2 million or 3 million won.” He continued: “Chief Justice Cho says, ‘The disbursement officer handled it, and I didn’t know.’ But does it make sense to say ‘I didn’t know’ when his own chief of staff and secretary receive cash brought to his office and stamp the documents? Under the budget execution guidelines, the head of the institution is the one who makes the incentive payments. Doesn’t that mean the head of the institution is effectively making the payments?”

At the Supreme Court’s parliamentary audit on October 6, Chief Justice Cho had said of the cash payments to Supreme Court justices: “The chief justice does not disburse the state’s salaries or incentive payments. There is a disbursement officer who makes the payments; the chief justice is not involved in any way.”

Kim also cited the Supreme Court’s written response to the Board of Audit and Inspection, saying, “The finance officer describes them as ‘incentive payments to Supreme Court justices made by the chief justice.’” In other words, the Supreme Court’s own account indicates that Chief Justice Cho makes the payments. Kim added, “Supreme Court justices also receive 5.2 million won a month by card for specific-duty expenses, in addition to cash. The 2 million to 3 million won in cash is paid separately on top of that.” In response, members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee requested access to the relevant documents from the Board of Audit and Inspection and reviewed them during the lunch break.

Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Kim Hocheol answers lawmakers’ questions during a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the Board’s office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 12th. Yonhap News Agency

Regarding the incentive payments, Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Kim Hocheol said, “The Board understands the budget execution guidelines to mean that the head of the institution is responsible for making incentive payments and that the head of the institution also carries them out. Since the records confirming the payment and receipt, as well as the payment itself, show that the head of the institution made the payments, we assess that the head of the institution made them in accordance with the budget execution guidelines.”

Park Hyeong-su, the People Power Party’s floor representative on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, said, “After reviewing the materials, I found that approximately 1.2 billion won in incentive payments was made from 2022 to 2025. More than half of that was paid during the tenure of former Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su.” Park said, “The incentive payments were made in exactly the same way then as they are now. People are making a huge fuss as if the chief justice had embezzled cash or something. If so, shouldn’t the same standard apply to former Chief Justice Kim?”

Park also criticized the questioning, saying, “The questions are making it hard to tell whether this is an audit of the Supreme Court or an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection.”

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