"Joo Ho-min's Son's Defense Impossible" Private Attorneys Resign All Within 2 Days

Two Defense Attorneys Submitted Resignation to Court on the 2nd
Presumed Due to Negative Public Opinion and Difficulty in Guilty Verdict
Only One Court-Appointed Lawyer Remains... 3rd Trial on the 28th

Webtoon artist Joo Ho-min’s two privately hired lawyers have both resigned in connection with his lawsuit against a special education teacher who instructed his son, a fact that was revealed belatedly.

According to reports from Suwon District Court and The Fact on the 7th, two lawyers from a certain law firm representing Joo submitted their resignation to the court on the 2nd. They had only filed their power of attorney on the 31st of last month and resigned after just two days. With their resignation, only one public defender appointed by the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office remains as Joo’s legal counsel.

Webtoon artist Ju Homin [Photo by Ju Homin, Instagram capture]

The exact reason for the private lawyers’ resignation has not been disclosed, but many believe that the lawyers gave up on the defense due to the burden of negative public opinion against Joo and his wife. Another possibility raised is that after listening to the actual recording provided by Joo’s side, they judged that a guilty verdict was unlikely and thus submitted their resignation. Previously, Ryu Jae-yeon, a special education expert and professor in the Department of Special Education at Nasaret University who listened to the recording, stated, “If they are legal professionals, they would not be able to defend after listening to the entire recording,” and requested, “If (Joo and his wife) are confident, please disclose the entire recording.”

After the private lawyers resigned, Joo reportedly contacted the special education teacher expressing a desire to meet and subsequently issued a second statement. In this statement, Joo maintained his original position, saying, “The fact that the opposing teacher made a mistake in behavior toward a disabled child as a teacher remains unchanged,” but also added, “After consulting with my wife, we plan to submit a petition seeking leniency for the opposing teacher.”

In September of last year, Joo reported a special education teacher at an elementary school in Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province, on charges of child abuse. Joo’s son, who is autistic, was separated due to school violence after exhibiting a sudden behavior of pulling down his pants in front of a female student while attending class with non-disabled students. Later, Joo filed a lawsuit against the special education teacher for remarks made to his son, who had been separated into a special class. It was reported that Joo secretly placed a recording device in his son’s bag before sending him to school, which drew much criticism. The indicted special education teacher was suspended from duty and faced trial but was reinstated on the 1st. The third hearing for the special education teacher is scheduled to be held at Suwon District Court on the 28th.

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