Supreme Court nominee’s camp says he shared apartment with unmarried brother-in-law at mother-in-law’s urging

The camp of Supreme Court justice nominee Kim Seong-su says a disputed Gangnam apartment arrangement arose from a family concern, not a hidden benefit. Kim’s family and his unmarried brother-in-law moved into the Dogok Rexle apartment together in 2021 at the urging of Kim’s mother-in-law, according to the nominee’s confirmation team.

The explanation followed controversy over a sublease that gave Kim access to an apartment with an estimated market jeonse value of about 1.95 billion won. The contract reportedly required a 350 million won deposit and monthly rent of 800,000 won, substantially below the stated market terms.

In a notice, the confirmation team said the 350 million won deposit listed in Kim’s asset declaration had originally been paid to his brother-in-law in 2011, when Kim rented the brother-in-law’s apartment in Seoul’s Yeoksam district. When the family moved to Dogok Rexle in 2021, the money was not returned and instead formed part of the new apartment’s rental deposit.

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Because my unmarried brother-in-law was a concern, my mother-in-law suggested that the nominee’s family and his brother-in-law move into the apartment together in 2021.

The team said Kim understood that the arrangement could raise tax questions and would settle the matter through an appropriate process after the confirmation hearing concludes. A lease at a price far below market value can potentially be treated as a family gift, creating a tax issue.

Documents obtained by the office of People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo show that Kim signed the Dogok Rexle sublease with his brother-in-law in May 2023 for the reported deposit and rent. The brother-in-law had leased the apartment from its owner for 1.5225 billion won. Kim had lived in the brother-in-law’s Yeoksam e-Pyeonhansesang apartment from February 2011 to June 2021 and had reported the 350 million won deposit in his assets since 2018. Joo’s office argues that the deposit was carried over into the later sublease.

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The nominee is also aware that there may be tax issues, and plans to resolve them appropriately after the confirmation hearing process is completed.