Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae: "I Do Not Agree That There Is a Problem with Lee Jong-seok's Travel Ban Lift"

Park: "Lifted Departure Ban as It Was Judged Meaningless to Maintain"

Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae stated regarding the controversy over the lifting of the travel ban on Ambassador Lee Jong-seop to Australia, "I cannot agree that there is a problem."

Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae is visiting Incheon Chamsarang Hospital in Seo-gu, Incheon on the morning of the 20th and walking with hospital officials. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 20th, Minister Park, while meeting with reporters in front of Incheon Chamsarang Hospital during a visit to a legal policy site, said, "The travel ban was lifted based on the judgment that it was meaningless to maintain the travel ban after going through the deliberation of the Exit Review Committee."

He added, "We considered the investigation situation after the accusation and the fact that the ambassador himself appeared at the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office for investigation," and said, "I cannot agree that there was any problem in the procedure or process."

Regarding the fact that the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office does not agree with the lifting of the travel ban on the ambassador, he responded, "Even if the investigative agency does not agree, the ban can be lifted through the Exit Review Committee," and "The travel ban is not lifted only if the investigative agency agrees."

Earlier, the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office received a complaint against the ambassador in September last year concerning allegations of interference in the Marine Corps investigation. Subsequently, the office imposed travel bans on the ambassador and key suspects including Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan, but did not conduct investigations on related parties until summoning the ambassador for questioning on the 7th of this month.

In response, the Ministry of Justice held an Exit Review Committee meeting and lifted the travel ban on the ambassador on the 8th of this month, and the ambassador departed for Australia on the 10th.