The head of the Constitutional Court spent 30 million won for 14 months... “Details are confidential.”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Mi-ryeong = The Constitutional Court virtually refused to submit details of the use of business expenses by Chief Justice Kim Sang-hwan, citing ‘concerns about undermining the independence and neutrality of the trial.’

According to data received from the Constitutional Court by the office of People Power Party Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 12th, Director Kim spent a total of 36.71 million won in business expenses from July of last year when he took office to August of this year.

By type, 15.88 million won was spent on major policy promotion and research activities, 4.3 million won on policy advice and meetings with related organizations, and 16.54 million won on employee meetings and various events.

The Constitutional Court only submitted the total amount by type for two months and kept the details private, saying, "It is difficult to submit because it takes a lot of time to confirm separate execution details and prepare data."

At the same time, he explained, "It is difficult to submit the details of the work expenses of the head of the Constitutional Court due to personal safety issues due to exposure of the head of the institution's movements and concerns over the independence and neutrality of the trial due to inferences about handling of ongoing cases and research directions."

This is in contrast to the previous disclosure and verification of the use of business expenses by Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and others.