"Shin Jeong-ah Case" Byun Yang-gyun Files Constitutional Complaint Claiming "Pension Reduction Unconstitutional" but Dismissed

Byeon Yang-gyun

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Byeon Yang-gyun, former Blue House Policy Chief (71), who resigned from public office in 2007 due to the 'Shin Jeong-ah scandal,' filed a constitutional complaint arguing that the Public Officials Pension Act, which does not consider special pardons or other circumstances when reducing retirement pensions due to crimes, is unjust. However, the complaint was not accepted.

On the 3rd, the Constitutional Court announced that it had unanimously ruled the constitutionality of Article 64, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 1 of the former Public Officials Pension Act, which Byeon had challenged.

The court stated, "The provision is justified as it is unreasonable to treat public officials who fail to fulfill their duties due to their status or job the same as those who have served diligently. Furthermore, by differentiating compensation amounts, it aims to prevent crimes by public officials and encourage them to work faithfully during their tenure."

It added, "When a public official is criminally punished for a crime, it damages the trust in the entire public service and harms the public interest. This applies even if the official has received a special pardon or reinstatement, resulting in the loss of the effect of the sentence."

Byeon was tried on charges including appointing Shin to Dongguk University by leveraging budget favors and bringing corporate sponsorships to the Sungkok Art Museum, where Shin worked as a curator.

In January 2009, the Supreme Court acquitted Byeon of charges related to Shin. However, he was found guilty only of exerting pressure to allocate special grants to private organizations such as Heungdeoksa and was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probation.

Following the final ruling, the Public Officials Pension Service reduced Byeon's monthly retirement pension payments by 50% due to the confirmed prison sentence.

However, in 2010, Byeon was included in the special pardon list marking the 65th anniversary of Liberation Day, which nullified the effect of the sentence. Despite this, pension payments continued at half the amount, prompting him to file a constitutional complaint claiming that the pension reduction clause's failure to treat cases of pardon or reinstatement differently was unconstitutional.

Byeon also lost an administrative lawsuit against the Public Officials Pension Service seeking payment of unpaid retirement pensions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.