The court accepted part of the information disclosure lawsuit filed by former lawmaker Kim Hyun-ah, saying that the allegations that former lawmaker Son Hye-won (Open Democratic Party) received preferential treatment from the Blue House should be investigated.
On the 28th, the 5th administrative division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Kim Soon-yeol) ruled in favor of part of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the president’s chief of staff for refusal to disclose information filed by former lawmaker Hyun-ah Kim (former United Future Party, predecessor of the People’s Power) on the 28th.
The court had the President’s Secretariat disclose a list of items purchased as ‘souvenirs’ between May 2017 and August 2019.
In addition, during the same period, the Presidential Secretariat ordered that the monthly purchase list, purchase items, place of purchase, and purchase amount be disclosed regarding the types of items purchased as ‘souvenirs’. However, part of the company name was obscured so as not to specify the company name or company name among the purchase information.
Previously, former Rep. Kim filed a request for information disclosure to disclose what items the Presidential Secretariat bought as souvenirs in August 2019, and whether there are any lacquerware products. The reason why the Blue House made souvenirs using mother-of-pearl after Moon Jae-in took office is because there are suspicions that it gave preference to former lawmaker Sohn, who runs the Najeon Lacquerware Museum.
However, the Office of the President of the President refused to disclose all of them in September 2019, saying, “It is an important security matter for the Blue House security management, etc.
“Since the inauguration of the current government, we have been manufacturing and distributing mugs and card wallets to visitors to the Blue House, and so far, we have spent an average of 788 million won per year,” said a representative of the presidential office. said.
In addition, to the request to disclose the presence and details of mother-of-pearl lacquer products such as mother-of-pearl among souvenirs, the response was “not applicable”.
In response, former lawmaker Kim and the Liberty Korea Party (predecessor to the People’s Power) filed a lawsuit in November 2019. Kim’s side claimed that the reason for the non-disclosure was not recognized and that the answer was too restrictive of the scope of Najeon Lacquerware products.
Accordingly, the court accepted most of Kim’s argument, saying that the reason for the non-disclosure of the purchase status of souvenirs was not recognized.
The court explained, “There is a table that summarizes the monthly purchase quantity and amount by type of souvenir, and even if it is disclosed, there is no risk of harming the important national interests, such as national security, in particular.”
In addition, “The government’s budget execution is subject to the audit of the Board of Audit and Inspection and the National Assembly, and it is judged that the public’s right to know about it is more important.” pointed out
However, the court did not accept Kim’s request to disclose the existence and details of ‘Najeon Lacquerware’ among the items purchased as souvenirs.
President Moon presented a set of nail clippers in a box engraved with a mother-of-pearl pattern to the Koreans during his overseas trip in 2017, but the presidential secretary’s reply, saying that it does not belong to the mother-of-pearl lacquerware product, is to the effect that there is no problem.
The court also dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Liberty Korea Party. I did not see that the right to request information disclosure of the Liberty Korea Party was infringed because former lawmaker Kim, not the Liberty Korea Party, made the request for information disclosure.
(Seoul = News 1)
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