Civic Group Urges Expulsion of Lee Jong-seok, Seodaemun District Council Member, for 'False Travel Expense Claims'

[Financial News] A civic group has urged the expulsion of Lee Jong-seok (Democratic Party of Korea), a Seodaemun District Council member, who was sentenced to a fine for falsely claiming travel expenses.
Seodaemun Eunpyeong Citizens' Solidarity and the Justice Party Seodaemun District Committee held a press conference in front of the Seodaemun District Council on the morning of the 18th, emphasizing that "we cannot tolerate the act of embezzling public taxes for personal use."
They pointed out, "Council Member Lee neglected his important role as a local council member overseeing the proper use of a budget exceeding 800 billion won," and urged the Seodaemun District Council to "abandon the perception of him as a fellow council member and proceed with expulsion for his wrongdoing."
Son Jong-pil, the preparatory chairman of the Seodaemun Eunpyeong Citizens' Solidarity, strongly criticized, "The role of a local council member is to properly monitor the budget for the residents' lives. Such a council member embezzling the budget with false receipts for personal gain is a disgrace to the 300,000 residents of Seodaemun."
He emphasized that Council Member Lee, who has a history of similar offenses in the past, should immediately resign for betraying the residents and embezzling their taxes, and that the council should proceed with expulsion procedures.
Pyo Jae-seon, deputy chairman of the Justice Party Seodaemun District Committee, criticized, "Council Member Lee is a repeat offender and habitual criminal who was fined 1 million won for illegally obtaining travel expenses for a Busan trip, following a similar incident in Jeju in 2021. His excuse that it was a simple administrative error is a blatant lie." He pointed out, "Even if we accept his claim of an administrative error, he is unqualified as a council member."
Council Member Lee was sentenced to fines twice for false travel expense claims. In 2021, he was fined 1 million won for submitting false receipts to receive support funds after canceling a hotel reservation during a Busan trip. He appealed the ruling. Previously, in a 2021 Jeju training session, he was fined 3 million won for booking flights and hotels, submitting only receipts, and actually using cheaper transportation and accommodations. His appeal was dismissed, and the sentence was confirmed. He received a 10-day suspension and a public warning from the council for this ruling.
Lim Kyung-taek, a member of the Seodaemun Eunpyeong Citizens' Solidarity, emphasized, "This is an unimaginable repetition of events for a ruling party member in a morally collapsed South Korea."
In a phone call with Financial News, Council Member Lee repeatedly claimed, "I actually stayed at the hotel, and the error occurred during the document submission process. There is also a receipt proving the stay. It was an administrative error, not intentional fraud." Council Member Lee did not attend the 309th Seodaemun District Council special session held at 10 a.m. that day due to personal reasons.
Civic groups and others visited the Seodaemun District Council to deliver a proposal requesting the expulsion of Council Member Lee.


425_sama@fnnews.com Choi Seung-han, reporter