Beopseoryeon Files Complaint Against Minister Park Beom-gye to Police... "Lee Seok-gi's Parole Abuse of Authority and Neglect of Duty Charges"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The civic group 'Action Alliance for Restoring the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon)' has filed a complaint with the police against Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye and others on charges of abuse of authority and neglect of duty in relation to the parole release of former Unified Progressive Party lawmaker Lee Seok-ki.

Beopse-ryeon stated, "Lee Seok-ki did not admit wrongdoing or show remorse, so the parole condition of sincere repentance was not met," adding, "Despite multiple arrests for pro-North activities and a very high risk of reoffending, the parole board decided to grant parole and Minister Park approved it. This constitutes an abuse of authority and a neglect of duty by refusing substantive review. Therefore, we are filing criminal charges against Minister Park and the parole board members for abuse of authority and neglect of duty," submitting the complaint to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the 24th.

Beopse-ryeon further claimed, "Lee Seok-ki is a spy who conspired to commit horrific anti-state crimes that would kill our citizens in the event of war. He has never shown remorse for his anti-state crimes aimed at overthrowing the system nor expressed any intention to reform. He is a hardcore pro-North Korean and anti-system traitor to the core," and added, "Paroling such a dangerously treasonous spy is an unconstitutional decision that cannot be allowed and a terrible violation of the constitution that insults the spirit of sacrifice of patriotic martyrs and democratic fighters."

They continued, "Unlike presidential pardons, which are acts of executive governance, parole is an administrative disposition that must follow proper procedures. Violating these procedures makes it illegal, and Lee Seok-ki’s parole is illegal as it does not meet substantive requirements."

Earlier on the 24th, former lawmaker Lee, who was serving his sentence, was released on parole. Upon his release from Daejeon Prison, Lee told his supporters, "I wanted to see you first. It has been quite some time, but thanks to your unwavering love, support, and trust, I am able to see you like this." He also said, "Such barbaric political behavior that imprisons people for a long time with just a few words should never happen again."

Lee was arrested and prosecuted on charges of instigating rebellion by conspiring specific acts as the head of the revolutionary organization (RO) aimed at overthrowing the Republic of Korea’s system, while sympathizing with North Korea’s theory of revolution against the South. In 2015, the Supreme Court confirmed his sentence of nine years in prison and seven years of disqualification.

Additionally, he was sentenced to eight months in prison in 2019 for embezzling several hundred million won from the election promotion company he operated and fraudulently inflating prices of supplies to illegally obtain election reimbursement costs during the 2010-2011 local council and Gyeonggi Province governor elections. As a result, his scheduled release date was extended from September 2022 to May 2023, making his parole release 1 year and 5 months earlier than his full term release.

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