Joo Jin-woo alleges Supreme Court nominee failed to pay 34 months of rent while living in brother-in-law’s apartment

A Supreme Court nominee allegedly lived in his brother-in-law’s Seoul apartment for nearly three years without paying rent, according to People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo.

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The records show no additional rent payment after the 1.6 million won payment on Nov. 2, 2023.

Joo said on Sept. 4 that bank transaction records submitted by nominee Kim Seong-su showed a final payment of 1.6 million won on Nov. 2, 2023. No further rent payments appeared in the records, he said. Under the arrangement, Kim was supposed to pay 800,000 won a month. Joo calculated that 34 months of payments, from November 2023 through August 2026, remained unpaid, bringing the total to 27.2 million won.

Kim had lived from February 2011 to June 2021 in a 25-pyeong apartment in Seoul’s Gangnam district owned by his brother-in-law, paying a 350 million won deposit. From June 2021, he moved to a 43-pyeong apartment in Dogok Rexle that his brother-in-law had rented. A sublease agreement set the deposit at 350 million won and monthly rent at 800,000 won, or roughly 200 million won if converted entirely into a deposit. Joo said the records indicated that payments stopped in December 2023, despite a new 2025 sublease agreement that still required the monthly rent.

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A 50-year-old asset owner who had lived separately for more than 10 years suddenly began living with his sister’s family. That explanation runs counter to common sense.

Kim’s side previously explained that his family and his unmarried brother-in-law moved into the apartment together in 2021 at the urging of Kim’s mother-in-law, who was concerned about him. Joo challenged that explanation, saying it was difficult to accept that the brother-in-law, described as a wealthy man in his 50s who had lived separately for more than a decade, suddenly began living with his sister’s family. He demanded that Kim submit mobile-phone location records, credit-card records and vehicle-entry records to establish whether they actually shared the apartment. Joo also alleged free accommodation and gift-tax evasion, and called on Kim to pay any unpaid gift tax and withdraw from consideration for the Supreme Court.

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Kim Seong-su should pay the gift tax he evaded and immediately resign as a Supreme Court nominee.