Supreme Court justices paid extra bonuses without legal grounds: state auditor

The Supreme Court was found to have paid its justices and other officials about 2 million won (US$1,450) each in extra incentives every month from 2022 until April 2024, without a legal basis, according to a recent audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI). This amounted to approximately 1.3 billion won in total. The chief of the National Court Administration also received 3 million won each month during this period.

The BAI stated that such regular incentives paid without legal justification are prohibited. Between May 2024 and September 2025, varying amounts were paid, but the annual totals remained similar. The court defended these payments, stating they were meant to recognize the hard work of justices and judicial researchers. However, the BAI also uncovered other instances of improper spending by the top court, including paying a computer maintenance firm 650 million won to upgrade the operating system of the court's computers despite already having a contract for free upgrades, and purchasing excess equipment due to poor budget management, leaving the court with a surplus of numerous computers, printers, and scanners.