Minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party spokesperson and now ex-prosecutor Lee Kyu-won was disbarred from the practice of law for failing to uphold his duties to the profession and engaging in political activities while on duty, officials said Friday.
The Ministry of Justice announced that they have officially revoked Lee’s license on Tuesday for “refusing to come to work following the April 10 general election without any justifiable explanation” and “violating the prosecutors’ duties not to be involved in political partisan activities due to his role as a spokesperson of a political party from May 2.”
Lee became a spokesperson for the Rebuilding Korea Party, launched and led by scandal-hit ex-Justice Minister Cho Kuk, after failing to become elected as a lawmaker in the April parliamentary election. Prior to entering politics earlier this year, Lee was deputy chief prosecutor at Daegu District Prosecutor's Office.
Lee had submitted his resignation as a prosecutor to the Justice Ministry in March, but the authorities did not immediately accept the request as he was on trial for improperly banning former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui from leaving the country in 2019. Kim was charged with receiving sexual favors and bribes from 2006 to 2009, when he was a senior prosecutor.
The law forbids a civil servant from resigning while still on trial for misconduct. Lee has been accused by the ministry for unethically using the name of the head of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor's Office in 2019 to file Kim’s travel ban to the authorities.
An appellate court recently acquitted Lee of abuse of authority and from obstructing another person from exercising his or her right in the case where he and fellow prosecutors banned Kim from leaving the country.
The ministry claimed that they had ordered Lee to return to his duties as a prosecutor in April, but he continued to take on the role of Rebuilding Korea Party spokesperson.
In response, Lee denounced the ministry’s decision as “an act in violation of the law” and hinted that he could take legal action.
“The Justice Ministry has disbarred me after refusing to budge when I asked them to accept my resignation and expressed willingness to accept any disciplinary actions,” Lee wrote on his Facebook.
“I plan to resign voluntarily after revealing the fabrications and atrocities of the Justice Ministry’s disciplinary actions imposed against me, which is an act of breaching the law, through steps of legal actions.”
