Court Rejects Lee Ki-heung's Suspension Stay Request as President of Korea Sports Council... Continues Job Suspension

Lee Ki-heung, president of the Korea Sports Council, had his request to suspend the enforcement of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's job suspension order dismissed by the court.

Accordingly, the job suspension status of President Lee will be maintained until the outcome of the main lawsuit seeking cancellation of the job suspension order is decided.

Lee Ki-heung, President of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

On the 13th, according to the legal community, the Seoul Administrative Court's 14th Administrative Division (Chief Judge Song Gak-yeop) dismissed Lee's request to suspend the enforcement of the job suspension order filed against the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Earlier, on the 11th of last month, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism notified President Lee of his job suspension based on the investigation results of the Government Joint Public Service Inspection Team from the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

The inspection team had referred President Lee and others to the police for investigation on charges including improper hiring of staff, demands for sponsored goods, and private use of sponsored items.

The following day, on the 12th of last month, President Lee filed a lawsuit at the Seoul Administrative Court seeking cancellation of the job suspension order and simultaneously requested a suspension of enforcement. In administrative litigation, a request for suspension of enforcement is similar to a provisional injunction in civil litigation, where the court is asked to temporarily suspend the effect of the administrative action until the main lawsuit is resolved.

On the same day, the Sports Fairness Committee of the Sports Council held a full meeting and approved President Lee's application for a third term challenge.

Meanwhile, it was reported that President Lee went to work and continued his duties during the job suspension period, raising controversy over violation of regulations.

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