Prosecutors Conduct Search at Seocho Police Station in Connection with Vice Minister Lee Yong-gu Assault Case, Securing Internal Documents

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The prosecution investigating the 'taxi driver assault case' involving Lee Yong-gu, Deputy Minister of Justice, has conducted a search and seizure at the Seoul Seocho Police Station. The Seocho Police Station is suspected of mishandling the case.

The Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Dong-eon) sent investigators to the Seocho Police Station, which handled the case, on the morning of the 27th to secure the case reception records and internal report documents. It is also known that the mobile phone of the police officer in charge, who is suspected of covering up the case despite viewing the black box footage shown by the taxi driver at the time, was included in the seizure targets.

Earlier, on the night of November 6 last year, Deputy Minister Lee assaulted a taxi driver while intoxicated in front of an apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The police officer in charge reviewed the black box footage showing the assault but classified it as a simple assault under the Criminal Act rather than under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, closing the investigation, which raised suspicions of a 'lenient investigation.' During this process, the police officer claimed, "The black box footage was deleted at the time and could not be restored, so I did not see it."

In response, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Joint Fact-Finding Investigation Team conducted an inquiry with the company that restored the black box footage. This individual was also summoned as a witness by the Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office for questioning. He explained that he gave identical statements to both the prosecution and the police regarding the process of restoring the black box footage and the circumstances under which the taxi driver obtained the footage.

According to this individual, on the 9th, three days after the incident, the police officer called and asked questions about the footage. He replied, "The taxi driver recorded the footage on his mobile phone and took it," and the police said they would verify the facts and ended the call. Subsequently, the police asked, "The taxi driver says there is no content (in the black box); what content is there?" He responded, "Check the taxi driver's mobile phone," and that was the last contact with the police at the time of the incident. The police officer who made the two calls was the same person.

The prosecution is currently reviewing the investigation records from the time of the incident. They are also suspecting whether there was any involvement from Deputy Minister Lee or higher police officials in covering up the case despite the police officer having viewed the footage. When asked by reporters on the morning of the 25th, upon arriving at the Ministry of Justice, whether he had contacted senior police officials during the case handling, Deputy Minister Lee responded, "I did not contact anyone."

Meanwhile, the prosecution is investigating the investigator who closed the case by applying only simple assault charges despite reviewing the footage, on charges of dereliction of duty. They plan to summon the investigator soon to focus on whether there was any reporting to higher-ups, and are also considering summoning Deputy Minister Lee himself for questioning.