Lee regrets workers facing legal costs from Yoon-era protest crackdown ruling, but says nothing can be done

President Lee Jae Myung, currently on a European tour to attend the G7 summit, said Thursday that he regrets the situation facing contract workers ordered by a court to pay litigation costs stemming from a protest crackdown during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration — but said there is nothing he can do about it. "It is unfortunate, but there is no other way. That is what the current law says," Lee said.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Lee said the court had ruled against the workers — who had filed suit as plaintiffs — finding that the use of state force had not been unlawful, and had ordered them to bear the litigation costs as the losing party. He added that under current law, if the government were to waive its right to claim those costs, officials could face criminal charges of breach of fiduciary duty or dereliction of duty. "So there is truly nothing we can do now," he said.

Lee reiterated that the government is working to ensure the exercise of state authority is lawful and measured, but noted that the case had already concluded and the ruling had been finalized. "Unless it is overturned through a retrial, there is nothing the government can do, and that is deeply regrettable," he said, leaving open the possibility of such a legal avenue.

He went on to say that "this abnormality has gone so far that there is no way to correct it even if we try."

Earlier, the Ministry of Justice sent bills to 123 people — including more than 100 contract workers and dismissed employees who had lost a damages suit against the state over the forcible dispersal of a peaceful assembly — demanding repayment of 33,789,508 won (about $22,200) in litigation costs.