President Moon Accepts Resignation of Lee Yong-gu

Former Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The resignation of former Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu, who is under investigation for assaulting a taxi driver while riding in the taxi (assault on a driver under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes), has been accepted.

At around 2:30 p.m. on the 3rd, President Moon Jae-in accepted Lee’s resignation.

Lee is accused of instructing Mr. A to delete the black box footage capturing the assault incident in November last year, thereby attempting to destroy evidence. It is reported that Mr. A allegedly deleted the footage after receiving a settlement payment.

Lee is suspected of grabbing the collar of taxi driver Mr. A in front of his home on the night of November 6 last year after getting drunk in the taxi. At that time, the police closed the case without booking Lee, as the victim did not wish to press charges. Subsequently, in January, the police formed a fact-finding team that secured about 7,000 phone call records and PC data from the investigation team and reporting line involved, tracking the process by which the case was closed.

About six months after taking office, on the 28th of last month, Lee expressed his intention to resign, stating, "With one year remaining, both the Ministry of Justice and prosecution urgently need new innovation and a leap forward, and I believe a new worker is needed for this."