Kim Seung-won fined 700,000 won for drunk driving after leaving bench, then called for tougher discipline as lawmaker

Kim Seung-won, a nominee for South Korea’s justice minister, was fined 700,000 won for drunk driving in 2008, five months after he resigned as a judge and opened a law practice.

Documents provided by the office of People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-min show that Kim received the fine from the Suwon District Court on July 4, 2008, for violating the Road Traffic Act. Kim had submitted his resignation from the court in February that year, ending his judicial career at the Suwon District Court.

After winning a seat in the National Assembly, Kim served on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. In October 2022, he released disciplinary data from the Korean Bar Association on lawyers involved in drunk-driving cases and other offenses. At the time, he said the association should take appropriate action against disciplined lawyers to restore legal ethics.

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The Korean Bar Association should take appropriate action against disciplined lawyers to restore legal ethics.