Lee Sang-gap, the Deputy Mayor for Cultural and Economic Affairs of Gwangju Metropolitan City, has expressed his intention to resign. According to Gwangju City, Deputy Mayor Lee submitted his resignation to Mayor Kang Gi-jung on the morning of the 7th, just 1 year and 2 months after taking office as the second Deputy Mayor for Cultural and Economic Affairs of the 8th civilian administration in March last year.
Once his resignation is accepted, it is known that he plans to join the legal support team for Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate from the Democratic Party.
Lee Sang-gap, originally from Sinan County in South Jeolla Province, graduated from Seoseok High School and Seoul National University with a degree in Political Science. He passed the 38th bar exam and was a member of the 28th Judicial Research and Training Institute. As a human rights lawyer, he has participated in the lawsuit for compensation for victims of forced labor during the Japanese occupation and for those affected by Hansen’s disease on Sorok Island. He has held roles such as the President of the Gwangju-Jeonnam branch of MINBYUN, Co-representative of the Labor Mentality Citizens’ Meeting, Chairman of the Human Rights and Legal Aid Committee of the Gwangju Bar Association, Special Committee on Japanese Victim Human Rights of the Korean Bar Association, and a human rights consulting expert at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.
During the Moon Jae-in administration, he promoted policies as the Legal Affairs Director and Human Rights Director of the Ministry of Justice, which included the introduction of the public defender system for criminal cases, the expansion of compensation for crime victims, and the expansion of support for victims’ public defender services.