Ministry of Justice Holds Disciplinary Review for Lee Seong-yoon Today... Lee Says "Acquitted in First Trial, Why Disciplinary Action?"

On the afternoon of the 3rd at 4 PM, the Ministry of Justice will hold a disciplinary committee meeting for prosecutors to deliberate on the disciplinary matter concerning Lee Seong-yoon, a research fellow at the Legal Research and Training Institute, who is currently on trial for allegedly covering up the investigation into the illegal travel ban of former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui.

Lee Seong-yoon, Research Fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute [Photo by Yonhap News]

The disciplinary review for Lee began last June following a disciplinary request from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. The grounds for discipline involve allegations that, while serving as head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in June 2019, he pressured the Anyang branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office to halt the investigation into the illegal travel ban case involving former Deputy Minister Kim.

Lee was indicted on the same charges and was acquitted in the first trial held in February. The second trial is currently underway following the prosecution's appeal.

Lee has opposed the disciplinary review, declaring his intention not to attend the disciplinary committee meeting. On his social media account, he stated, "It is standard practice to suspend disciplinary action until the final court verdict is reached when a prosecutor is indicted. Is such arbitrary and selective application truly in line with the spirit of the Constitution? If an acquittal has been rendered, what is the basis for discipline?"

He also referenced the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's conclusion last month that there was no misconduct by Son Jun-sung, head of the Litigation Department at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, who is implicated in the 'accusation inducement' allegations. "In my 30 years as a prosecutor, I have never encountered a case where disciplinary proceedings were closed due to lack of charges before the first trial, which is still ongoing," he said.

In response, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office explained that Son's case was concluded before the expiration of the three-year disciplinary statute of limitations to determine whether to file disciplinary charges.

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