The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials has indicted a sitting chief judge accused of taking tens of millions of won in bribes from a lawyer who attended the same high school and providing favors in cases.
The agency’s Investigation Division 2, led by Chief Prosecutor Kim Su-hwan, said Tuesday it indicted Chief Judge Kim, identified only by his surname, and attorney Jeong, identified only by his surname, without detention on charges including bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and giving bribes.
Prosecutors said that from 2023 to 2025, while serving as presiding judge of a criminal appeals panel at the Jeonju District Court, Kim reduced sentences in cases handled by Jeong, a senior alumnus from the same high school, and in return accepted valuables worth 33 million won.
The agency said Kim handled 21 appeals cases taken by the law firm headed by Jeong and reduced sentences in 17 of them. Of six cases decided after March 2024, when prosecutors say Kim began receiving bribes, Kim also overturned the lower-court rulings.
In one case, a defendant caught repeatedly driving drunk while on probation saw a five-month prison sentence reduced on appeal to a 5 million won fine. In another, a defendant involved in operating an illegal sports gambling site received a suspended sentence after getting a prison term in the lower court.
Prosecutors also said Kim received, for one year, free use of a commercial space intended for his spouse’s violin lessons, and shifted the cost of soundproofing and other construction for the lessons to Jeong. They said Kim additionally accepted 3 million won in bribes, including boxes of nuts.
The agency said it also confirmed through recorded visitation audio files that word of the alleged arrangement spread inside and outside prisons, leading to a surge of case requests to Jeong’s law firm.
The agency said it had sought indictments in March, but the court rejected the request, citing insufficient explanation regarding the alleged bribe-giving. It later indicted both suspects without detention.
“We uncovered that a sitting chief judge accepted bribes, using ongoing trials as the channel, from a defense lawyer in cases he was handling,” a CIO official said. “We will continue to deal strictly, under law and principle, with corruption that undermines trust in the judiciary.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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