Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae reported that he holds assets worth 1.58639 billion won this year. Among the high court Director Generals and judges, the highest reported asset amount was 1.952672 billion won, reported by Director General Yoon Seung-eun of the Seoul High Court.
According to the '2025 regular asset changes of public officials' disclosed by the Supreme Court on the 27th, the average total asset amount of 132 senior judges subject to disclosure is 3.87520 billion won. This figure represents an increase of about 12% (414.2 million won) compared to the previous year. The judges whose assets were disclosed last year and this year saw an average increase of 182.01 million won. The Court Administration Office noted that the increase in total assets was due to changes in value stemming from the rise in housing market prices and land prices, savings from salaries, inheritances, and donations.
The 1.58639 billion won reported by Chief Justice Cho includes an apartment in Seongnam City owned by his spouse worth 1.079 billion won and a multi-unit dwelling in the Songpa District of Seoul co-owned with his spouse worth 760 million won. He also reported a debt of 1.3 billion won related to building leasing.
Excluding Chief Justice Cho, the average assets of the 12 Supreme Court judges amounted to 3.720 billion won. Among the Supreme Court judges, the highest assets were held by Judge Lee Suk-yeon (15.26 billion won), followed by Judge Seo Kyung-hwan (6.3 billion won) and Judge Shin Suk-hee (4.3 billion won).
Senior Judge Yoon reported the highest total asset amount among the high-ranking judges at 1.952672 billion won. Last year he also reported 2.025101 billion won, making him the top high-ranking judge in total assets. Regarding the decrease in assets compared to last year, Judge Yoon explained, "It is due to living expense expenditures and indirect investment losses." For example, the value of the stocks held by Judge Yoon's spouse was about 2.16 billion won last year but has decreased to 1.78 billion won this year.
Following Judge Yoon, the notable asset declarations included Judge Lee Suk-yeon (15.26 billion won), Judge Moon Kwang-seop of the Seoul High Court (15 billion won), Judge Kim Woo-jin of the Seoul High Court (11.119 billion won), Judge Yoon Tae-sik of the Suwon District Court (10.696 billion won), and Judge Kwon Soon-hyung of the Seoul High Court (10.21 billion won).
Judge Hwang Byeong-ha of the Seoul High Court saw the largest increase in total assets among senior judges, with a rise of 1.7 billion won over the past year. Judge Hwang explained the increase in assets by saying, "My spouse inherited land and apartments." The inherited assets include land valued at 170 million won and an apartment valued at 1.368 billion won.
The judge with the smallest assets was Chief Justice Cheon Dae-yeob (310 million won) followed by Judge Noh Kyung-pil (1.08 billion won) and Judge Eom Sang-pil (1.52 billion won).