Candidate for Supreme Court Justice Kim Sung-soo Suspected of Tax Evasion Over Sublease Arrangement

[Anchor]

Kim Sung-soo, a candidate for Supreme Court Justice, has been accused of tax evasion for living in a high-end apartment in Gangnam, Seoul, at a deposit significantly lower than the market rate. It was revealed that he entered into a sublease agreement after his brother-in-law first leased the apartment and then re-rented it to the candidate. However, according to our reporting, the landlord stated that they had no knowledge of this arrangement.

Reporter Kim Bo-mi has an exclusive report.

[Reporter]

This 120-square-meter apartment in Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, is where Supreme Court Justice nominee Kim Sung-soo lives on a jeonse (lump-sum deposit) lease.

He has been residing there since 2021, and two years later, moved to an apartment of the same size on a different floor in the same building.

According to actual transaction prices disclosed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the jeonse price around that time was 1.5 billion to 1.6 billion won.

In public official property disclosures, Candidate Kim reported the rental deposits for both apartments as 350 million won each.

However, the actual lease contract was signed not by Candidate Kim, but by his brother-in-law.

This means it was a sublease agreement in which the brother-in-law re-rented the property to Candidate Kim.

Looking at the 2023 lease agreement, the landlord and the brother-in-law signed a jeonse contract with a deposit of 1.45 billion won. The brother-in-law, acting as the tenant, set about half of that amount, or 750 million won, as the total deposit and leased it to Candidate Kim.

At the time, the deposit was 350 million won with a monthly rent of 800,000 won.

However, the landlord, identified as Mr. A, whom SBS met with, stated, "While it is true that I leased the jeonse to the brother-in-law, Mr. Kim, I had no knowledge whatsoever about the existence of a sublease agreement between Mr. Kim and Candidate Kim."

Article 629 of the Civil Act stipulates that "a lessee may not sublease the leased property without the consent of the lessor."

Without the landlord's consent, it amounts to an unauthorized sublease.

Meanwhile, Candidate Kim previously lived on a jeonse lease in a 59-square-meter apartment in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, from 2011 to 2020, where the landlord was his brother-in-law.

Although the jeonse market price for this apartment rose from 400 million won to 1.1 billion won over a decade, Candidate Kim continuously reported the deposit as 350 million won in his public official property disclosures.

An opposition lawmaker raised suspicions of "gift tax evasion," pointing out that the deposit was far below market value.

[Ju Jin-woo / People Power Party lawmaker: He has resided in an expensive Gangnam apartment while maintaining a fixed jeonse deposit of 350 million won. He has repeatedly and habitually evaded hundreds of millions of won in taxes.]

Candidate Kim's side responded that they moved into the Dogok-dong apartment together in 2021 at the recommendation of his mother-in-law, who was worried about her unmarried son, and added that "the candidate is also aware of the tax-related issues."

Furthermore, regarding the landlord's claim of ignorance regarding the sublease, they argued that there is no problem because the brother-in-law's lease agreement stated that Candidate Kim's family would reside there together.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video Reporting: Kim Hak-mo, Lee Seung-hwan, Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing: Nam Il | Design: Kang Yoon-jung, Hwang Se-yeon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.