Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae of the Supreme Court reported assets of approximately 1.82 billion won ($1.3 million), while senior judges across the judiciary held average assets of around 4.4 billion won ($3.2 million), according to newly disclosed filings.
The Supreme Court on Monday released the "2026 Periodic Asset Disclosure for Public Officials," showing that the 136 senior judges subject to disclosure held average assets of 4.4496 billion won, an increase of 574.41 million won from the previous year. A Supreme Court official said the changes were "driven by rising publicly assessed housing prices and individual land values, increases in stock valuations, inheritance and gifts, and growth in net assets from salary savings, among other factors."
The disclosure revealed that 39 of the 136 senior judges own multiple homes. Chief Justice Cho holds an apartment in Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, jointly purchased with his spouse, while his spouse separately owns one apartment in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
Among the Supreme Court justices, Justice Lee Suk-yeon reported the highest assets at approximately 24.32 billion won, followed by Justice Seo Gyeong-hwan at 7.97 billion won and Justice Shin Suk-hee at 4.77 billion won. Justice Cheon Dae-yeop reported the lowest among the justices at approximately 320 million won, followed by Justice Noh Gyeong-pil at 1.28 billion won and Justice Eom Sang-pil at 1.79 billion won.
Eight senior judges reported assets exceeding 10 billion won. Im Hae-ji, chief judge of the Daegu Family Court, topped the list at 38.81 billion won. Lee Hyeong-geun, a judge at the Seoul High Court, followed with 36.51 billion won, then Justice Lee Suk-yeon at approximately 24.32 billion won and Lee Seung-ryeon, head of the Judicial Policy Research Institute, at 20.21 billion won. The senior judge with the fewest reported assets was Im Sang-gi, chief judge of the Suwon District Court, at 300 million won.
The 12 Constitutional Court officials subject to disclosure reported average assets of approximately 2.11 billion won, up roughly 69 million won from the previous year. Constitutional Court Acting Chief Justice Kim Sang-hwan reported assets of approximately 2.19 billion won. Justice Oh Young-jun held the highest assets among Constitutional Court justices at approximately 4.194 billion won.
