TRO to stop businessman from handling businesses denied

Businessman Byung Deuk Lee, who is said to be diagnosed with Alzheimer disease, walks outside the courtroom with his lawyer Robert T. Torres after a hearing yesterday for a temporary restraining order. Behind Lee and Torres is attorney Janet H. King, who is counsel for Lee’s company that owns, among other businesses, Seoul One Korean Restaurant and Shinsen Japanese Restaurant. (Contributed Photo)

Byung Deuk Lee, a Korean businessman who was allegedly diagnosed with Alzheimer disease and kept away from the rest of his family, surfaced in Superior Court yesterday with his lawyer and submitted a medical examination showing he only has a mild cognitive impairment.

At a hearing, Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho denied the request of Lee’s wife, Koom Nye Kim, and their son, Sang Hun Lee, to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the elder Lee from handling the businesses because apparently he was losing his mind.

The wife and son want to be appointed as guardians and handle Lee’s businesses.

Camacho set an evidentiary hearing for May 2 to determine if a temporary injunction should be granted based on what witnesses will testify about Lee’s mental condition.

Attorney Robert Torres, counsel for Byung Deuk Lee, told Saipan Tribune that in denying the TRO, Camacho found the Jan. 13, 2016, medical report sufficient to inform that Lee only has a mild cognitive impairment and which would improve with medication.

Torres said Lee is presumed competent.

“Being old is not incompetent. Being forgetful does not make someone incompetent,” Torres said, adding that even with a disability a person continues to enjoy the right to be free from restraint and freedom to associate.

“Reports of Mr. Lee’s purported incompetence are greatly exaggerated and without basis. He is fine,” Torres pointed out.

Attorney Janet H. King on the other hand, agreed with Torres that Byung Deuk Lee is fine.

King is counsel for Lee’s China Yanbian Foreign Economic & Technical Cooperation Corp.

King told Saipan Tribune that Lee is the majority shareholder of China Yanbian and that he was not found incompetent and in need of a guardianship.

China Yanbian is engaged in various businesses in the CNMI and currently manages two restaurants located in Garapan.

In general, King said, the court would find a person to be in need of guardianship when he or she shows a lack of capacity to make responsible decisions.

King said a person may not be declared incompetent simply because he has a developmental disability or mental illness.

“By itself, it is not enough to declare a person incompetent. The corporation’s best interests would not be served by a finding of incompetence where there is none,” she said.

Attorney Claire Kelleher-Smith appeared at the hearing for Lee’s wife, Kim, and son, Koom Nye Lee. It was attorney David G. Banes who filed the court action as counsel for Kim and her son, for protection of businessman Lee and his business interests on Saipan.

According to Banes in court documents, Ji Sook Lee is the daughter of Lee, born out of wedlock.

Banes said it was Ji Sook Lee who removed Lee from a hospital in South Korea, where he was diagnosed with Alzheimer disease, and kept him away from his family, then traveled to Saipan to control all of his businesses and property.

Banes asked the court to appoint the wife, Kim, as guardian of her husband, Lee.

Lee, however, granted his daughter, Ji Sook Lee, a power of attorney to handle the businesses for him.