The Supreme Court finalized a lower court decision that put the brakes on the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's demand for a heavy disciplinary action against Chung Mong-gyu, president of the Korea Football Association.
According to the legal community on the 28th, the Supreme Court's Special Third Division (presiding Justice Lee Heung-gu) on the 25th summarily dismissed, without a hearing, the ministry's re-appeal against the decision to suspend the execution of the notice of results of the special audit and the request for measures.
A summary dismissal without a hearing is a system in appellate review of non-criminal cases under which, if there is no specific ground such as illegality in the lower court's ruling, the court does not conduct a merits hearing and does not accept the appeal.
Earlier, when controversy flared in Jul. last year over the appointment of national team head coach Hong Myung-bo, the ministry launched a special audit of the football association and, when it announced the results in Nov. last year, demanded heavy disciplinary action of suspension or higher against 16 executives and staff, including President Chung.
Objecting to this, the football association in Jan. filed a lawsuit seeking to cancel the ministry's disposition and also applied for a stay of execution.
In Feb., the Seoul Administrative Court accepted the association's application for a stay of execution, saying it recognized an urgent need to prevent irreparable harm to the applicant from the disposition. The Seoul High Court, which heard the appeal, maintained the same determination in May.
Meanwhile, the main lawsuit the football association filed to cancel the ministry's disposition is ongoing. The third hearing is set for Oct. 30. Separately from the stay, it seeks to invalidate the ministry's disciplinary demand itself.