Lee Kwang-beom, the managing partner of law firm LKB Pyeongsan (67; 13th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), was recently appointed as an outside director of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. A former senior judge, Lee overturned a guilty verdict to not guilty in 2020 for President Lee Jae-myung (then Gyeonggi governor), who had faced the loss of his election over allegations of publishing false information.
On the 21st, according to reporting by ChosunBiz, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation held a board meeting at the end of last month and appointed Lee as an outside director.
Earlier, in January, Lee also served as chairperson of the NongHyup reform committee. After multiple corruption allegations at the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation erupted starting late last year, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation created the NongHyup reform committee for internal structural reform and organizational overhaul.
Lee graduated from Gwangju Jeil High School and Seoul National University School of Law, then served as a judge at the Seoul Civil District Court beginning in 1986, a research judge at the Supreme Court, and a director general judge at the Seoul High Court. He also served as president of the progressive-leaning judges' group Wooribub Research Society.
Since opening his law practice in 2011, he has taken on major cases, including winning an acquittal in the case over publishing false information involving Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, and securing the dismissal of an arrest warrant for former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu, who faced allegations of manipulating the economic assessment of Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1.
After that, he handled legal representation in cases including the comment manipulation case involving former South Gyeongsang Governor Kim Kyeong-soo, the college admissions corruption case involving the children of Rebuilding Korea Party leader Cho Kuk, and the cash-for-votes case at a party convention involving Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Song Young-gil, serving as a "relief pitcher for the ruling bloc." Last year, he also served as co-head of the National Assembly's legal team in the impeachment trial of former President Yoon Suk-yeol.
Because of this, some speculate that the latest outside director appointment is a "shielding personnel move." An industry official said, "The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation is currently facing more than 10 investigations over various corruption allegations, and there are moves to relocate its headquarters to a provincial area. To block this, it is possible they seated attorney Lee, who has close ties to the ruling bloc, as an outside director."