대법원, 대법관들에 매달 ‘현금 격려금’…법령 근거 없이 4년간 13억

The Supreme Court has been paying "cash incentive" allowances to its justices every month for the past four years, despite lacking legal justification, according to a recent audit. These payments were made to support judicial reform research and other court-related activities, but the Court failed to provide sufficient evidence, including financial records, to support these payments.

A recent audit revealed that the Supreme Court disbursed a total of ₩12.99 billion in cash incentives to all justices from 2022 to September 2025. Two former Supreme Court justices, Kim Myung-soo and Jo Hi-dae, presided over the Court during this period. The monthly incentive payments to justices ranged from ₩200,000 to ₩400,000, with occasional additional bonuses of ₩100,000 to ₩150,000.

In the latter half of 2024, justices received between ₩200,000 and ₩400,000 per month. Overall, each justice received an average monthly incentive of ₩200,000 to ₩254,000 and an annual average of ₩1.8 billion to ₩3.05 billion during the audit period. Justices also received an additional ₩512,000 per month (approximately ₩482,000 in government-issued credit cards) for specific expenses.

The Chief Justice’s Office and the Procedural Court Guard received monthly allowances of ₩150,000 to ₩280,000, totaling ₩1.59 billion. The Supreme Court claimed that these payments were made from the "other local budget" and provided no evidence to support their claims. The auditor pointed out that "regular cash incentive payments based on monthly amounts without any legal backing are prohibited" according to Supreme Court guidelines.

The auditor also noted that the Supreme Court's budget and fund management plan instructions do not allow for regular cash incentives to be paid to judges and justices. The Court faced controversy during the tenure of Chief Justice Ah-sung Park, who paid special activity allowances to justices for judicial and research purposes.

In 2018, a report by the investigative agency "Justice Investigation Team" found that the Chief Justice received an average of ₩436,000 monthly and justices received an average of ₩100,000 monthly for such payments. Despite this, the Supreme Court continued to pay cash incentives during the administrations of Kim Myung-soo and Jo Hi-dae.

The auditor instructed the Chief Justice of the Court, Kang Pye-il, to investigate and ensure that no regular cash incentives are paid to justices and court officials in the future, citing a violation of relevant laws and guidelines. The Supreme Court responded that they would comply with the auditor's recommendations and strive to make future cash incentives transparent and fair.