Former Captain Lee Geun (39), who was prosecuted for unauthorized participation in the Ukraine war, assaulted a YouTuber who repeatedly questioned him immediately after his first trial.
On the morning of the 20th, Judge Jeong Jae-yong of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 presided over the first trial of former Captain Lee, who was charged with violating the Passport Act and hit-and-run injury under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
In court, former Captain Lee admitted to all charges of violating the Passport Act. His lawyer also stated, "We acknowledge all the facts of the indictment regarding the Passport Act violation."
However, former Captain Lee denied the charges related to hit-and-run injury. The next trial is scheduled for the 24th of next month.
After the trial ended that day, former Captain Lee was followed in the courthouse hallway by a YouTuber who repeatedly asked, "You have been a credit defaulter for six years; aren’t you sorry to your creditors?" In response, he cursed and punched the YouTuber in the face.
The YouTuber continued to follow former Captain Lee, asking, "What do you think about assaulting me?" and "Aren’t you sorry to your creditors?"
While former Captain Lee was outside the courthouse talking with reporters, the YouTuber asked questions again, prompting Lee to curse once more and swipe at the YouTuber’s mobile phone. The YouTuber confronted him, saying, "Property damage? Is this property damage?" after his phone flew and hit the ground.
The YouTuber has previously raised various suspicions about former Captain Lee. Lee also pointed out on his YouTube channel that "(this YouTuber) continuously spreads false information."
A former captain of the Navy Special Warfare Unit (UDT/SEAL), he was prosecuted in January for leaving the country without permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and entering Ukraine, where a Level 4 travel advisory (travel ban) had been issued.
Shortly after the Ukraine war began in March last year, he left the country saying he would "fight against the Russian army" and joined Ukraine’s foreign unit, the Territorial Defense Forces International Legion. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs filed charges against him for violating the Passport Act. He was injured on the battlefield and returned to Korea in May of the same year for treatment, then voluntarily appeared before the police.
He was also indicted for hit-and-run injury under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes after causing an accident with a motorcycle while driving in Seoul last July and leaving the scene without providing aid.
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