'Taxi Driver Assault' Lee Yong-gu Denies Charges in First Trial... "Intoxicated and Mentally Incapacitated"

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

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Former Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu, who was indicted on charges of assaulting a taxi driver while intoxicated, denied the charges at his first trial.

On the morning of the 27th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 32 (Presiding Judge Yoon Jongsup) held the first preparatory hearing for former Deputy Minister Lee, who was indicted on charges of assaulting a driver under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. Unlike a formal trial, the defendant was not obligated to appear, so Lee did not attend the court in person.

On this day, the defense attorney stated, "While the facts are acknowledged, the defendant was in a state of extreme intoxication and had diminished capacity to distinguish objects or make decisions," and argued that "there was no intent to assault."

Previously, on November 6, 2020, when Lee was working as a lawyer, he was brought to trial on charges of grabbing and pushing the collar of taxi driver A, who was trying to wake him up in front of his apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul, while he was intoxicated.

The issue began when former Deputy Minister Lee requested the deletion of the black box footage during the settlement process with A. Although A expressed that he did not want prosecution, and the police closed the case as an investigation into the non-prosecution offense of assault, the police did not apply the charge of assaulting a driver under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, despite the incident involving an assault on a driver while driving.

Subsequently, after a citizen group filed a complaint, a reinvestigation began, raising suspicions that the police attempted to cover up the case despite having reviewed part of the black box footage at the time.

Meanwhile, after confirming the restored black box footage during the reinvestigation, the prosecution sent former Deputy Minister Lee and police officer B from Seocho Police Station to trial without detention.