Park Beom-gye, "Monitoring 'Byeonhyeop·Lotok Incident'... Disciplinary Procedures Seem Difficult for Now"

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Regarding the conflict between the Korean Bar Association (KBA) and the legal service platform 'Lotoc,' Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye stated, "I do not expect the KBA to carry out disciplinary procedures swiftly," and added, "We are closely monitoring the situation."

On the 4th, Minister Park made these remarks during a meeting with reporters at the Government Complex Gwacheon of the Ministry of Justice.

On that day, he explained, "The Seoul Bar Association (Seoul Bar) requested disciplinary action against about 500 lawyers because, although they joined Lotoc, it was not based on the Lawyer's Code of Ethics but due to exaggerated advertising," and added, "Since the legal platform called Lotoc is involved in the disciplinary request, I do not consider it completely unrelated."

Minister Park said, "I do not expect the KBA to proceed with disciplinary procedures soon," and "I hope they do not do so if possible," adding, "There is still quite some time, so we are monitoring it closely." He also added, "(However) this is not a matter for mediation, and my position and policy are clear."

He continued, "Since there are some concerns from a future perspective regarding the KBA's claims, I asked Lotoc if they have any intention to improve," and said, "The Director of the Legal Affairs Division is scheduled to make contact yesterday or today." He had previously stated, "I instructed the Director of the Legal Affairs Division to check with Lotoc whether they can consider inspection and improvement and whether they intend to respond to the KBA's objections."

Earlier, in May, the KBA revised the 'Regulations on Lawyer Advertising' to prohibit the payment of economic benefits such as referral fees, brokerage fees, commissions, membership fees, joining fees, and advertising expenses related to legal consultation connections and referrals.

In the same month, a clause was added to the Lawyer's Code of Ethics stating, "Lawyers shall not participate in or cooperate as members in electronic media-based businesses such as applications that introduce lawyers or legal offices."

In response, a lawyer filed a disciplinary request petition with the Seoul Bar against 500 lawyers, alleging violation of the Lawyer Act by using the legal platform.

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