The spouse of Constitutional Court President Kim Sang-hwan accompanied him on a trip to Spain last year, with more than 10 million won in court funds spent on the spouse's travel expenses.
Kim traveled to Madrid for a week starting Oct. 26 last year to attend the general assembly of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice, according to documents the court submitted to Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's National Policy Committee, released on the 3rd.
Six people took part in the trip: Kim and his spouse, Constitutional Court Justice Kim Hyung-doo, the chief of staff to the court president, a constitutional researcher and an investigator. The court spent a total of 58.219 million won ($41,000) on the trip. Of that, 13.368 million won went to Kim and 10.313 million won to his spouse.
Spain's Constitutional Court, which hosted the event, said in its invitation that delegations could include up to four people, including accompanying persons and security staff. The Korean court said two additional members, including a researcher, were added separately because Justice Kim attended as a full member of the Venice Commission, a constitutional advisory body.
The court also said the spouse's participation followed established practice. Spouses have accompanied court presidents to past general assemblies of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice, and the host approved the additional participants for this trip as well, the court said.
On the invitation's use of the term "accompanying person" rather than "spouse," the court said the wording reflects the recognition of same-sex marriage and unmarried partners in Europe. It added that a separate program for spouses was also offered at the previous general assembly, held in Bali, Indonesia, in 2022.
