Chief justice faces ethical challenges over tax evasion

Posted on : 2007-01-04 21:38 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST

The chief justice of South Korea's Supreme Court faces public criticism for his evasion of income taxes in 2004, when he worked as an attorney, despite his claim that the evasion was not deliberate.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday confirmed a TV news report on the same day that its Chief Justice Lee Yong-hun did not report 50 million won (US$53,600) worth of earnings to the tax authorities and subsequently dodged 20 million won in income taxes.

He allegedly received the money from an affiliate of the U.S. investment banking firm Goldman Sachs in June 2004 as a reward for successfully leading an appeals case in Seoul commissioned by the company.

Lee said his accountant "mistakenly" failed to report the income but that he had "no intention to deliberately evade the tax."

He also said he paid the 20 million won plus an additional tax after the report was released.

Whether deliberate or not, Lee's tax evasion is expected to damage his image as a clean justice.

Since taking office as the chief justice in 2005, he has repeatedly called for a higher level of moral integrity by the nation's justices.

In November last year, he downplayed suspicions of tax evasion, saying he would immediately resign if he was found to have evaded any taxes.

On Thursday, however, he showed no intention to resign over the recent case, saying, "I made the remarks because I didn't know this at that time."

"As a Christian, I've never deceived anyone," he stressed during a meeting in his office with reporters.

Seoul, Jan. 4 (Yonhap News)