"Drug Allegation" Lee Cheol-gyu's Son Late Arrest Criticized, Police Say "Standard Procedure"

The police investigating the case of Lee Cheol-gyu, a member of the People Power Party, whose son was caught trying to obtain liquid marijuana, explained that the investigation followed standard procedures in response to criticism of a "delayed arrest."

Park Hyun-soo, acting commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said at a regular briefing on the 10th that the arrest of Lee's son, Mr. Lee in his 30s, 53 days after confirming his identity on the 25th of last month, was "a normal amount of time considering the process of identifying the suspect, applying for and obtaining an arrest warrant, and tracking his whereabouts." He added, "We only recognized that Mr. Lee was the son of the lawmaker on the day after the arrest, the 26th," and "this was discovered during the investigation process."

Earlier, the Seocho Police Station in Seoul booked Mr. Lee and three others, including his wife, on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act. Mr. Lee is accused of attempting but failing to retrieve liquid marijuana buried in a flowerbed in a residential area of Seocho-gu last October using the so-called "throwing" method. The police received a report about Mr. Lee on October 29 of last year, identified him on January 3 of this year, and arrested him after issuing an arrest warrant on the 25th of last month. The police also found evidence that two others, including his wife, were riding in the car Mr. Lee used during the crime and booked them together.

Meanwhile, the police investigating the sexual assault allegations against former People Power Party lawmaker Jang Je-won recently announced that a close aide of Jang, who was present at the drinking party with the accuser, has also completed a witness investigation.

Former lawmaker Jang is accused of sexually assaulting his secretary, Ms. A, in November 2015 when he was the vice president of a university in Busan. Ms. A reportedly drank at an after-party following a photo shoot for election posters ahead of Jang's run for the general election and later claimed that Jang sexually assaulted her. Jang has denied all the sexual assault allegations made by Ms. A, stating they are entirely false.