Ministry of Education's Disciplinary Action Rejecting Appointment of Gongju National University of Education President... Legal Ruling in Second Trial

Lee Chang-hak, Chair of the Presidential Recommendation Committee at Kongju National University of Education (center), and other university members are holding a press conference in front of the Ministry of Education at the Government Complex Sejong last March, demanding a reconsideration of the presidential appointment recommendation. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Professor Lee Myung-joo, who was the first-choice candidate for president of Gongju National University of Education, filed a lawsuit claiming that the Ministry of Education's decision to refuse the appointment recommendation was illegal, but lost in the appellate court.

According to the legal community on the 29th, the Seoul High Court Administrative Division 6-1 (Presiding Judge Han-soon Choi) overturned the original ruling and ruled against the plaintiff in the appeal to cancel the refusal of appointment recommendation filed by Professor Lee against the Minister of Education. The previous first trial ruled in favor of the plaintiff, stating that "the Ministry of Education violated the Administrative Procedures Act by imposing a disadvantageous disposition without presenting specific grounds and reasons."

Gongju National University of Education recommended Professor Lee, who received the most votes in the 9th president appointment candidate election on November 15, 2019, as the first-choice candidate to the Minister of Education. However, on February 10 of last year, the Ministry of Education sent an official letter titled "Request for Re-nomination of President Appointment Candidate," refusing to recommend Professor Lee's appointment without specifying any particular reason. Professor Lee filed a lawsuit against this disposition, arguing that "excluding me from the appointment recommendation without presenting any grounds or reasons violates Article 23, Paragraph 1 of the Administrative Procedures Act." Article 23, Paragraph 1 of the Administrative Procedures Act stipulates that "when an administrative agency takes a disposition, except for minor or urgent dispositions, it must present the grounds and reasons to the party concerned."

The issue in the lawsuit was whether the "Notification of the Results of the President Appointment Candidate Review" sent separately to Professor Lee on February 13 last year, apart from the official letter requesting candidate re-nomination, cured the procedural defect. The first trial court ruled on this point that "Professor Lee filed the lawsuit to cancel the refusal of appointment recommendation two days before receiving the notification, on February 11," and judged that "there is no basis to consider the notification received by Professor Lee as substantially one disposition with the request for re-nomination of the president candidate."

The appellate court's judgment was different. The court stated, "The notification can be regarded as one administrative disposition excluding Professor Lee from the president appointment recommendation," and "the defendant presented the grounds and reasons through the notification, so it is difficult to see any defect under the Administrative Procedures Act." The notification at that time included content stating that Professor Lee had been subject to several criminal penalties in the past and had outstanding fines or local taxes, making it inappropriate to perform duties as president of a national university. Based on these circumstances, the court added that the Ministry of Education's judgment "cannot be seen as objectively unreasonable or as an abuse or deviation of discretion, losing social common sense significantly."

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