Minister of Legislation: "Replaced Phone After Attending Private Gathering... Did Not Commit Any Crime"

Lee Wankyu, Commissioner of the Ministry of Government Legislation, is responding to a lawmaker's question during the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Ministry of Government Legislation held on the 14th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Lee Wan-kyu, the head of the Ministry of Government Legislation, revealed on the 17th that he changed his mobile phone after attending a meeting at the presidential safe house (An-ga) on the 4th, the day after the declaration of martial law.

During a plenary session of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee that day, Lee responded "I did" to a question from Park Ji-won of the Democratic Party, who asked, "Did the Ministry of Government Legislation chief change his phone as well, since Lee Sang-min (former Minister of the Interior and Safety), Park Sung-jae (Minister of Justice), and Kim Joo-hyun (Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs) all changed their phones after attending that meeting (at An-ga)?"

When Park pressed, "Isn't this an attempt to destroy evidence?" Lee emphasized, "Destroying evidence is something done by someone who has committed a crime," adding, "I have never committed any crime."

When Jeong Cheong-rae, chairman of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from the Democratic Party, asked again why he changed his phone, Lee replied, "I did not want to be subject to unnecessary misunderstandings," adding, "There were also inconveniences in using the old phone, and for various reasons, I replaced it."

When Chairman Jeong insisted, "You did it to prepare for the investigation, right?" Lee responded, "If you reprimand me like that, I will accept it graciously."

Lee had previously stated at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee plenary session on the 11th that four people, including former Minister Lee, Minister Park, Senior Secretary Kim, and himself, gathered at the An-ga meeting, but there was no discussion related to the opposition party's allegations of a 'second martial law conspiracy.'