Lee Byung-ki, accused of obstructing the Sewol Special Investigation Committee, acquitted in first trial "No proof of crime"

Lee Byung-ki, former Director of the National Intelligence Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Former Blue House Chief Secretary Lee Byung-gi, who was indicted on charges of obstructing the activities of the 4·16 Sewol Ferry Disaster Special Investigation Committee (Special Committee), was acquitted in the first trial.

On the afternoon of the 1st, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 31 (Presiding Judge Lee Jung-min) acquitted former Chief Secretary Lee, stating "there is no proof of the crime" in the trial concerning abuse of authority by senior officials of the Park Geun-hye administration. All senior officials of the Park Geun-hye administration who were indicted together, including former Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Hyun Ki-hwan, former Senior Secretary for Policy Coordination Hyun Jeong-taek, former Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs Ahn Jong-beom, former Senior Secretary for Personnel Affairs Jeong Jin-cheol, former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kim Young-seok, former Vice Minister Yoon Hak-bae, former Director of the Ministry of Personnel Innovation Lee Geun-myeon, and former Vice Chairman of the Special Committee Cho Dae-hwan, were all acquitted.

The court stated, "There is no evidence to recognize that defendant Lee Byung-gi was informed of or instructed to suspend the appointment process of the Director of the Truth-finding Bureau, nor that defendant Jeong Jin-cheol knew the purpose or background of the suspension and conveyed instructions to the Ministry of Personnel Innovation. The same applies to the other defendants." It also added, "Before the movement to adopt the agenda for the activity investigation was detected, the government's official position that 'the Special Committee's activity period began on January 1, 2015' had already been established," and "there is no evidence to consider that any decision regarding the start date was made around the time of the agenda resolution for the Special Committee's activity investigation."

At the previous closing argument hearing, the prosecution requested a three-year prison sentence for former Chief Secretary Lee. In his final statement, Lee appealed, "I only hope that our society will thoroughly inspect safety issues in the future so that such an unfortunate disaster never recurs," and "I earnestly ask the court to carefully review and make a fair judgment."

Earlier, Lee and others were brought to trial on charges of attempting to obstruct the Special Committee when it tried to pass an agenda investigating President Park Geun-hye's whereabouts during the seven hours on the day of the Sewol Ferry disaster in November 2015. It was investigated that they deliberately stopped the appointment process of the Special Committee's Truth-finding Bureau Director, which was pending Prime Minister's approval, through the Ministry of Personnel Innovation, and intentionally did not dispatch 17 officials from 10 government ministries.

Lee is also accused of forcibly ending the Special Committee's activities by completely halting discussions on extending the Special Committee's activity period, recalling dispatched officials, and not executing the budget.

This case is the second indictment filed by the prosecution related to the Park Geun-hye administration's deliberate 'obstruction of the Special Committee's investigation' controversy. The Sewol Ferry Disaster Special Investigation Unit indicted in May 2020.