Court Suspends Suspension Effect of Ryu Sam-yeong, Who Led the Chief's Meeting

The suspension of 3 months imposed on Chief Superintendent Ryu Sam-yeong, who led the nationwide police chiefs (Chief Superintendents) meeting opposing the establishment of the Police Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, has been temporarily suspended by a court decision.

Chief Superintendent Ryu Sam-yeong [Photo by Yonhap News]

The Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 14 (Presiding Judge Song Gak-yeop) accepted Chief Superintendent Ryu's request for a suspension of execution (temporary suspension of effect) against the Commissioner of the National Police Agency on the 10th, asking to halt the effect of the 3-month suspension.

The court stated, "The applicant (Chief Superintendent Ryu) will suffer damage by being unable to perform his duties as a police chief for 3 months due to the disciplinary action," and added, "The damage caused by the disciplinary action cannot be compensated by money except in special circumstances, and considering the nature and extent of the damage, there is an urgent need to prevent it."

Furthermore, the court said, "The applicant argues that there are no grounds for disciplinary action in the main case, and even if there are grounds, the 3-month suspension is excessively severe and should be canceled," and "Since there is room to dispute the illegality of the disciplinary action, it seems necessary to make a judgment in the main case."

Accordingly, the suspension order imposed on Chief Superintendent Ryu by the National Police Agency will be suspended from the day the first trial verdict of the appeal lawsuit filed by Ryu is announced until 30 days thereafter.

A suspension of execution is a decision to temporarily halt the effect of an administrative disposition in cases where irreparable damage may occur due to the administrative action, so that even if the plaintiff wins the subsequent lawsuit, the rights cannot be restored.

Chief Superintendent Ryu led the nationwide police chiefs meeting opposing the establishment of the Police Bureau in July last year, and was severely disciplined with a 3-month suspension on December 13 of the same year. He filed a disciplinary appeal review with the Ministry of Personnel Management and also filed an administrative lawsuit seeking cancellation of the disciplinary action in court.

Chief Superintendent Ryu requested both the Ministry of Personnel Management and the court to temporarily suspend the effect of the disciplinary action, but the Disciplinary Appeal Review Committee of the Ministry of Personnel Management dismissed the request on the 22nd of last month.

Considering that Chief Superintendent Ryu’s suspension period expires at midnight on the 13th, the court unusually issued the decision on the same day the hearing was concluded. Ryu’s legal representative appealed during the hearing, saying, "The suspension period expires on the 13th, but no disciplinary appeal hearing date has been set yet," and "The right to a fair trial is being infringed."

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