Choi Seong-hae, Former President of Dongyang University, Wins Reversal in Remand Trial Over 'Ministry of Education Executive Cancellation'

The Ministry of Education's decision to revoke the executive qualification of former Dongyang University President Choi Seong-hae has been ruled unfair in a retrial. Despite the Supreme Court's remand indicating that the Ministry's decision was appropriate, the court sided with former President Choi.

Former President Choi Sung-hae of Dongyang University. [Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 25th, the Administrative Division 1 of the Daejeon High Court (Chief Judge Lee Jun-myeong) ruled on the 21st in the retrial of the lawsuit filed by former President Choi against the Minister of Education, seeking cancellation of the 'revocation of approval for executive appointment,' stating, “The Ministry of Education unlawfully revoked the approval for executive appointment of former President Choi by exceeding and abusing its discretionary power,” and ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

Previously, in November 2020, the Ministry of Education revoked its approval of former President Choi's appointment as a director of the Hyeonam Foundation. According to the Private School Act, if the chairman's direct ascendant is to serve as president, approval from two-thirds of the board of directors and the competent authority is required. However, this was because former President Choi and his father did not follow the board or Ministry approval procedures when he was appointed as a director of the school corporation in 2010.

In response, former President Choi's side filed a lawsuit that year, arguing, “The Ministry of Education's revocation of approval for executive appointment is illegal because it did not issue a correction order before the revocation, and revoking approval based on an issue from 10 years ago constitutes an abuse of discretion.”

The Supreme Court sent the case back to the Daejeon High Court, stating, “Former President Choi served as Dongyang University president for a long time without meeting the qualification requirements until his term expired, and during that time, former Chairman Choi passed away, so it cannot be seen that there was a possibility or effectiveness of correcting the illegal status afterward,” and held that the Ministry's revocation without a correction order was lawful.

The retrial court also judged that the Ministry's decision not to issue a correction order was not wrong. However, the court accepted former President Choi's claim that the Ministry abused its discretionary power.

The court stated, “Revoking the director position, which is not directly related to the president's status, violates the principle of proportionality, and revoking approval for executive appointment based on qualification violations after more than 10 years greatly undermines legal stability.”