[MBC] Cho Hee-dae, the Great Thief

Anchor
Recently, controversy arose when it was revealed that Supreme Court justices have been receiving 2 million won per month in cash as incentives without legal grounds, and purchasing approximately 100 million won worth of wine with unclear purposes using business promotion expenses.
Amidst this, the detailed breakdown of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's business promotion expenses has been disclosed for the first time since his inauguration.
According to an MBC investigation, it was revealed that he has been recording lower per-person payment amounts by inflating the number of attendees at high-end restaurants.
Reporter Jang Seul-gi conducted an exclusive investigation.
Report
The detailed breakdown of Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's business promotion expenses has been disclosed for the first time in 2 years and 9 months since his inauguration.
A total of approximately 260 million won.
He mainly used restaurants with private rooms near the Supreme Court and the Hannam-dong official residence.
A restaurant in Bangbae-dong that Chief Justice Cho visited most frequently.
He visited a total of 12 times, and it is recorded that in November last year, he held a meeting here with 38 people, including research judges.
However, this restaurant does not have a room that can accommodate 38 people.
[Restaurant in Bangbae-dong, Seoul]
"<Is it possible to (reserve) for about 30 people?> It might be possible for 30, but you won't be able to see each other. Because we only have private rooms. <What is the maximum capacity of a room?> 19 people."
The same was true for a nearby sushi omakase restaurant recorded at 28,000 won per person.
[Sushi Omakase in Bangbae-dong]
"Lunch is 75,000 won. <Is that for just one 75,000 won (menu)?> Yes. <Is there any way you could lower the (price) or something like that?> We can correct the (unit price on the receipt), but as for the amount, we..."
A traditional Korean restaurant listed in the Michelin Guide also cannot be explained by the recorded 30,000 won per person.
[Traditional Korean Restaurant in Banpo-dong]
"Lunch is based on 65,000 won. If you choose soy-marinated crab or tteokgalbi, it is 80,000 won."
Even at 5-star hotels in Seoul, the price per person does not exceed 100,000 won.
In September 2024, after having dinner with 10 judicial policy advisory members at a Chinese restaurant in a hotel located in Sogong-dong, Seoul, 836,000 won was spent; in February last year, 1.12 million won was paid after 15 people, including transferred judges, had a meal at a Chinese restaurant in a hotel located in Euljiro, Seoul.
At that time, the cheapest dinner course at these two hotel restaurants was 180,000 won per person.
[Hotel Chinese Restaurant in Euljiro, Seoul]
"In the main hall, you can freely use courses or single items, but the 10 of you cannot sit together in the hall; you would have to sit across about 3 to 4 tables."
It appears that the number of attendees was inflated to record a lower unit price per person, and coincidentally, two-thirds of the entries are under 50,000 won, staying within the meal entertainment limit under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.
[Kim Gi-pyo / Member of the Democratic Party of Korea]
"It is extremely contradictory and hypocritical that a Chief Justice, who claimed to be highly noble on his own, frequented high-end omakase restaurants using taxpayers' money and even manipulated the number of people in the records."
In response, the National Court Administration explained, "The number of people was misstated due to a simple mistake by a staff member," and added, "We plan to supplement any deficiencies found in the execution process."
This is Jang Seul-gi from MBC News.