Prosecution Seeks 2-Year Prison Sentence for Lee Seong-yoon over Kim Hak-ui's Illegal Travel Ban

This Researcher: "Prosecution Based on Vague Inference and Confirmation Bias"

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The prosecution has requested a two-year prison sentence for Lee Seong-yoon, a research fellow at the Legal Research and Training Institute, who is accused of exerting external pressure on the investigation into the illegal travel ban case involving former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui.

At the sentencing hearing held on the 2nd under the presiding of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 27 (Presiding Judge Kim Ok-gon), the prosecution asked the court to sentence Lee to two years in prison.

The prosecution argued, "If the frontline investigation team is planning a difficult investigation, the defendant, who was the head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, should have supported and assisted the investigation to ensure proper judgment, but instead, the defendant obstructed the investigation without justifiable reason."

In his final statement, Lee, the high-ranking prosecutor, countered, "This case is a prosecution based on vague speculation and confirmation bias," adding, "There is nothing specific in the indictment about what instructions I gave."

Lee, who was the head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in 2019, was indicted without detention on charges of exerting pressure to block the investigation by the Criminal Division 3 of the Anyang District Prosecutors' Office into allegations of former Vice Minister Kim's illegal travel ban.

At that time, the Ministry of Justice requested an investigation into the person who leaked the travel ban information to former Vice Minister Kim, but during the investigation, the Criminal Division 3 of the Anyang District Prosecutors' Office discovered circumstances suggesting that the travel ban was imposed illegally and reported this to their superiors.

In early last year, the illegal travel ban circumstances surfaced, prompting the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office to launch an investigation, and Prosecutor Lee Gyu-won, Research Fellow Cha Gyu-geun of the Legal Research and Training Institute, and former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Lee Kwang-cheol were brought to trial.

The court closed the arguments that day and decided to deliver the verdict on February 8 of next year. The verdicts for Prosecutor Lee, Research Fellow Cha, and former Secretary Lee, who were indicted on charges of illegally blocking former Vice Minister Kim's departure, are also scheduled to be announced on the same day.