On March 12, 2019, the pro bono committee of Lee & Ko has been recognized with Gran Prize for Pro Bono Litigation at ‘2019 Republic of Korea Legal Award’ for their ‘ji-gae-boo-dae-won’ case. On January 12, 2018, the pro bono committee of Lee & Ko, on behalf of the surviving families of ‘Korea Service Corps’ (hereinafter ‘KSC,” ji-gae-boo-dae-won in Korean), filed a lawsuit against the Chief of Seoul Regional Office of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to appeal its decision not to register the KSC veterans as Men of National Merit. The court has ruled that it is against the law to dismiss the Men of National Merit registration for civilians who has fought and lost their lives in the Korean War as laborers.
The deceased (then 35 years old) was conscripted as a laborer in 1951 in his hometown and was responsible for transporting military supplies to the combat area. At that time because of lack of equipment and poor road conditions, civilian laborers who carried ammunition and supplies often worked with carrier(ji-gae); hence, they were called ‘ji-gae-boo-dae” or ‘A-frame boo-dae’ by the US army and UN troops as the carrier(ji-gae) looked like the English alphabet A.
The deceased was shot dead by communist guerrillas while transporting military supplies and munitions with the Korean A-frame(ji-gae) in the area where there was an intense fighting between the Korean army and the armed communist guerrillas. After years, the deceased’s family applied for registration as Men of National Merit, but the chief of the Seoul Regional Office of Patriots and Veterans Affairs refused such registration as there was no official record of the Korean army with respect to the deceased’s death in the Korean War and the related statements of the witnesses were not trustworthy. The Seoul Administrative Court acknowledged the credibility of the statements of the witnesses that the deceased had been conscripted as a laborer and died in the Korean War and ruled the chief of the Seoul Regional Office of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to revoke its refusal disposition. The pro bono committee of Lee & Ko asserted that there could not have been an official record of the Korean army as the deceased was not a solider and there was credibility in the witnesses’ statements as they were consistent. It led the Court to make a favorable judgment for the deceased by presenting the circumstances at the time when the statements were made by the witnesses through verifying the facts with the Ministry of National Defense which examined the witnesses.