[Exclusive]Former wife urges severe punishment.. Kim Dong-sung to appear in court again in June over unpaid child support

*This content was translated by AI.

Kim Dong-sung, a former short track national team athlete, will face the second-instance court in June over a lawsuit regarding unpaid child support.

The Suwon District Court's 6th Criminal Division (Family) is scheduled to hold the first appeal trial on June 4 regarding Kim Dong-sung's alleged violation of the Act on the Enforcement and Support of Child Support.

Previously, the Suwon District Court's Criminal Division 14 (single judge) sentenced Kim Dong-sung to six months in prison for violating the Act on the Enforcement and Support of Child Support in December 2025. However, the court stated, "Rather than detaining the defendant immediately, it appears more appropriate to enforce the unpaid child support within a certain period to protect the minor children," and thus did not order the defendant's detention.

The court ruled, "The defendant, upon divorcing his spouse in 2018, was ordered to pay 3 million won per month to his two minor children but only paid part of it. The child support was reduced to 1.6 million won at his request, and after his former spouse requested a reduction, he paid some of the unpaid child support but has not paid any child support for approximately three years and ten months since then."

Furthermore, the court noted, "Until the time of this verdict, the total amount of unpaid child support appears to be quite substantial. Considering the defendant's age, career, health, and the reduced child support amount, there does not appear to be a legitimate reason for not paying child support. It is believed that the defendant prioritizes maintaining his own standard of living over paying child support to his children, and he has only mentioned vague payment plans so far, raising doubts about his realistic intention to fulfill this obligation."

The court added, "Considering that the former spouse has petitioned for a severe punishment, a prison sentence commensurate with the guilt is necessary. Although the defendant will not be detained in court, he may be imprisoned if he fails to fulfill his payment obligation until the appeal trial."

However, Kim Dong-sung has already appealed against the first-instance verdict. Subsequently, Kim Dong-sung's former wife submitted a petition to the court, urging severe punishment for Kim Dong-sung.

The Suwon District Prosecution Service indicted Kim Dong-sung without detention in October 2025 for the aforementioned charges. It is reported that Kim Dong-sung has failed to pay child support to his two children, who are being raised by his divorced former wife A, amounting to over 100 million won from 2019 to the present. Child support enforcement litigation was filed against Kim Dong-sung by the custodial parent A since 2020. Despite receiving a 30-day detention order from the court in 2022 for failing to pay child support, Kim Dong-sung did not pay 80.1 million won even after a year passed, leading to this prosecution. Subsequently, the Prosecution Service requested a four-month prison sentence for Kim Dong-sung.

Kim Dong-sung's personal information was already made public on the Bad Fathers website in 2020, and in December 2022, his name was added to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's list of child support debtors.

Regarding this, Kim Dong-sung stated, "I have never evaded my parental responsibility for my children. At the time of the initial divorce, I agreed to pay 3 million won per month in child support according to the other party's request, and even after the divorce, I have shouldered various costs including car rental fees and living expenses in addition to child support. However, significant debt accumulated during this process, and as my financial situation deteriorated rapidly, the child support was adjusted to 1.6 million won. Nevertheless, I have continuously strived to pay this amount."

He continued, "Whenever my TV appearances were confirmed or coaching jobs began, media reports and interviews with my former spouse followed, repeatedly causing already confirmed appearances to be canceled or ongoing professional activities to be halted. Ultimately, the livelihood base I maintained collapsed, and paying child support became realistically difficult. Since I lacked professional skills or job experience, finding new employment was not easy. The only option available to me in that process was day labor."

Kim Dong-sung said, "My former spouse filed a criminal complaint, and during the investigation, I explained in detail the circumstances that prevented me from paying child support. In fact, I have already paid a significant amount of child support to my former spouse, but after my income stopped and my livelihood collapsed, I could no longer afford it. Nevertheless, these backgrounds and circumstances were not covered at all, and only the fact of 'unpaid child support' was emphasized. Subsequently, the unpaid period and amount were exaggerated in reports, making it appear as though I had not paid any attention to child-rearing after the divorce and had only lived my personal life."

Kim Dong-sung shared an article claiming that he earned over 6 million won per month and even sent his children to study abroad, stating, "What is the reason for doing this much? The facts have not been verified... Do you want a divorce? Do you want Kim Dong-sung's destruction? Or do you wish for someone's death? I am struggling to the point of death."

He also refuted, "The claim of hiding assets is completely different from the facts. I currently have no assets whatsoever and am a credit-impaired individual whose bank accounts have been seized. I submitted all these facts to the police investigation, and law enforcement authorities have already clearly confirmed them. If I had hidden assets, the other party would have presented at least some clues, but such claims or evidence have never been presented. It is merely an unreasonable claim contrary to the facts."

Kim Dong-sung also refuted the claim that he was waiting for his children to turn 20, stating, "I have never made a statement to that effect. On the contrary, I have repeatedly and publicly stated that I will definitely take responsibility and pay child support regardless of the children's age." He further explained, "It is true that I served as a youth speed skating coach for a certain period, but I could only end each contract on a short-term basis. This was not due to a lack of ability, but because I faced dismissal pressure at every workplace due to the other party's repeated and indiscriminate media exposure."

He continued, "The claim that I earned 7 million won per month is completely false. I briefly helped a friend's sink business to learn the trade, and when the friend had to quit due to circumstances, I temporarily took over the business at the request of my elderly parents. My wife and I commuted to work, and the total amount we received for one month was only 3.5 million won. I am from a remarried family. My wife, Ren Min-jung, has a daughter who is a U.S. citizen. She lived in the U.S. and then returned to Korea. Due to her ex-husband's situation, she has never received child support even once. In fact, she is currently under a court-ordered payment order."

Meanwhile, Kim Dong-sung was a star athlete who served as a short track national team member from 1995 to 2005. He achieved success by winning a gold medal in the 1000m and a silver medal in the 5000m relay at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. Kim Dong-sung recently announced that he had obtained a short track coaching certification.

Kim Dong-sung divorced his former wife, Ms. O, whom he married in 2004, by mutual consent in 2018, 14 years later. Subsequently, Kim Dong-sung appeared on TV CHOSUN's 'We Divorced' in 2021 with Ren Min-jung, whom he met after the divorce, and announced his marriage registration in May 2021.

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*This content was translated by AI.