Ministry of Justice Terminates Legal Counsel Contract for President Yoon's Disciplinary Cancellation Lawsuit... Trial Postponed to August

President Yoon Suk-yeol is taking the oath of office at the inauguration ceremony of the 20th president held at the National Assembly on the 10th of last month. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Ministry of Justice has terminated the delegation contract with the legal representative on the Ministry's side in the disciplinary action cancellation lawsuit filed by President Yoon Seok-yeol during his tenure as Prosecutor General. Accordingly, the preparatory hearing scheduled for the afternoon of the 7th has been postponed to August.

On this day, the Ministry of Justice stated, "Regarding the disciplinary action cancellation lawsuit against the Prosecutor General, we have terminated the delegation contract with the legal representative who violated obligations under the delegation contract by submitting a written statement containing unilateral claims without prior consultation with the Ministry to the court."

The legal representative whose delegation contract was terminated this time is known to be attorney Wi Dae-hoon (57, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 21), a former judge.

Previously, the Ministry of Justice had also expressed its intention to replace attorney Lee Ok-hyung (52, class 27), who is also a former judge.

On the 3rd, the Ministry of Justice announced, "Deputy Minister of Justice Ino-gong instructed today to replace the legal representative on the Ministry's side who is the younger brother of a Ministry official responsible for the relevant department, to prevent concerns about fair job performance due to private interests."

Attorney Lee is the younger brother of Lee Sang-gap, head of the Legal Affairs Office responsible for the disciplinary cancellation lawsuit. When President Yoon, during his tenure as Prosecutor General, opposed the suspension of duty and the two-month disciplinary action and applied for a stay of execution, attorney Lee represented then-Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae.

The Ministry of Justice explained that attorney Lee, a family member of Lee Sang-gap, representing the Ministry in the lawsuit could potentially violate the Public Officials Conflict of Interest Prevention Act or the Code of Conduct for Public Officials.

As the Ministry of Justice applied to the court for a change of date to replace the legal representative, the preparatory hearing originally scheduled for this day was postponed to August 16.

President Yoon was suspended from duty by former Minister Choo in December 2020 while serving as Prosecutor General. Subsequently, when the Ministry of Justice's disciplinary committee decided on a two-month suspension, he filed a cancellation lawsuit with the court.

In October last year, the court recognized two of the reasons cited by the Ministry of Justice for the two-month suspension against President Yoon: the order to prepare a court analysis document and obstruction of inspection and investigation related to the Channel A case, among the reasons including damage to the dignity concerning political neutrality, and ruled against the plaintiff.

President Yoon appealed the first trial ruling on the disciplinary cancellation lawsuit, and the appellate trial is currently underway at the Seoul High Court Administrative Division 1-1 (Presiding Judge Shim Jun-bo, Judges Kim Jong-ho and Lee Seung-han).

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