"Arrest Warrant for Cha Gyu-geun, Head of Immigration Office, Denied in 'Kim Hak-ui Departure Ban' Case... 'Issue Is Serious but No Risk of Flight or Evidence Tampering'"

Cha Gyugeun, head of the Immigration and Foreign Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Justice, who is suspected of issuing an 'illegal travel ban' against former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, is responding to reporters' questions before entering the Suwon District Court building on the 5th to attend the pre-arrest detention hearing.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The detention warrant requested by the prosecution for Cha Gyu-geun, head of the Ministry of Justice's Immigration and Foreign Policy Headquarters, who is accused of approving the illegal 'emergency travel ban' against former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, was dismissed on the 6th.

With Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol resigning on the 4th in opposition to the ruling party's push to establish the Serious Crime Investigation Office (Jungsucheong), the dismissal of the detention warrant for Cha is expected to inevitably disrupt the prosecution's investigation.

The Suwon District Court judge Oh Dae-seok, who conducted the pre-trial detention hearing for Cha the day before, stated around 2 a.m. that "Considering the strict need to comply with due process, although the matter is not light, based on the evidence collected so far and the suspect's attitude toward the investigation, it is difficult to judge that there is a risk of evidence destruction or flight, so it is hard to recognize the necessity and appropriateness of detention," and dismissed the detention warrant for Cha.

Cha, who arrived at the Suwon District Court building in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do at around 9:50 a.m. the previous day to attend the detention hearing, emphasized, "The travel ban was not illegal."

When asked by reporters whether the travel ban against former Vice Minister Kim was illegal, he replied, "It was not illegal. Former Vice Minister Kim was attempting to secretly flee overseas late at night using automatic immigration," adding, "As the head of the Immigration Headquarters responsible for border control, I want to ask the public whether it would have been right to do nothing and allow him to escape abroad."

He continued, "If former Vice Minister Kim had fled overseas without the travel ban, the common sense and justice built by our society would have collapsed," and added, "I plan to calmly and clearly explain the facts as they are to the court and present my arguments."

According to the public interest report, officials from the Ministry of Justice's Immigration Inspection Division accessed personal information including former Vice Minister Kim's name, date of birth, and immigration control information 177 times from the morning of March 19, 2019, to the afternoon of March 22, and reported this to superiors.

Cha is suspected of approving the travel ban request on the morning of the 23rd, a day after prosecutor Lee Gyu-won of the Past Affairs Investigation Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office illegally obtained personal information and took emergency travel ban measures against former Vice Minister Kim.

Meanwhile, on the 3rd, the prosecution transferred the cases involving former Vice Minister Kim, Seoul Central District Prosecutor Lee Seong-yoon, and prosecutor Lee Gyu-won of the Past Affairs Investigation Division to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (Gongsoocheo).