Court rules pay cut excessive for diplomat disciplined over 2019 leak of summit phone talk

SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) -- A foreign ministry official who had received a pay cut in connection with the 2019 leak of phone conversations between the leaders of South Korea and the United States has had the disciplinary measure canceled after winning the relevant administrative lawsuit.

The Seoul Administrative Court has recently ruled in favor of the official in the lawsuit filed against the foreign minister for the cancellation of disciplinary pay reduction, judicial officials said Monday.

The plaintiff, then a diplomatic minister at South Korea's Embassy in Washington, D.C., was disciplined after a councilor under him leaked the contents of phone talks between then President Moon Jae-in and then U.S. President Donald Trump to Khang Hyo-shang, a then lawmaker of the opposition Liberty Korea Party, in May 2019.

The plaintiff was punished with a three-month pay cut for neglecting the supervision of subordinates in July of the same year.

The plaintiff launched a lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court in January of the following year to nullify the disciplinary measure and won the case.

The foreign ministry then lowered the level of its disciplinary action to a one-month salary cut but the plaintiff filed another administrative lawsuit.

"The foreign ministry's disciplinary action was reasonable but excessive. It may not have been easy for the plaintiff to supervise even the embassy's security-related details," the court said, adding the plaintiff is subject to a reprimand under the decree on disciplinary action against public officials.

Meanwhile, Khang was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for one year, in September last year on charges of leaking diplomatic secrets in connection with the phone conservation leak case.

The embassy councilor, who left the foreign ministry later and was indicted together with Khang, was given a deferred sentence of four months in prison.

ycm@yna.co.kr
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