Cha Kyugeun, a lawmaker from the Rebuilding Korea Party who was tried in connection with the so-called "illegal travel ban" case for blocking former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hakui from leaving the country, has been acquitted of all charges.
On June 5, the Supreme Court's Second Division, presided over by Justice Park Youngjae, upheld the previous court ruling that found Cha not guilty of charges including abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights. Lee Kyuwon, the Rebuilding Korea Party's Strategy Chair, and Lee Kwangcheol, former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary, who were indicted alongside Cha, were also acquitted.
The Supreme Court stated, "There is no error in the lower court's decision that violates the rules of logic and experience, exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misinterprets the legal principles regarding personal information handlers under the Personal Information Protection Act or the crime of abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights, which would have affected the verdict."
They were indicted in April 2021 on charges of illegally banning Kim Hakui, who was under prosecution investigation for the so-called "villa sex bribery allegations," from leaving the country after authorities detected his attempt to depart from Incheon International Airport on March 22, 2019.
At the time, Lee Kyuwon, who was a prosecutor seconded to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Past Affairs Investigation Team, submitted an emergency travel ban request using a past case number for which Kim had already been cleared of charges, thereby blocking his departure. It was also found that Lee wrote a non-existent internal investigation number on the subsequent approval request.
Cha Kyugeun, then head of the Justice Ministry's Immigration Office, was indicted for approving Lee's emergency travel ban measure despite knowing it was illegal. Lee Kwangcheol, who was serving at the Blue House at the time, was charged with coordinating between Cha and Lee and leading the overall travel ban process.
The first trial acquitted them of most charges, including abuse of power. However, Lee Kyuwon was found guilty of falsely listing himself as the acting chief of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office on the travel ban request form to obtain retroactive approval for Kim's travel ban, as well as hiding the document. The court, however, deemed the illegality minor and suspended a four-month prison sentence.
The appellate court overturned the suspended sentence for Lee Kyuwon and acquitted him of all charges. The Supreme Court then dismissed the prosecution's appeal, stating there was no misinterpretation of the law in the lower court's judgment, thus finalizing the acquittals.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on June 12 in the appeal trial of Lee Sungyun, a Democratic Party lawmaker who was tried on charges of exerting undue pressure on the investigation into the illegal travel ban case involving Kim Hakui (abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights). Lee Sungyun was also acquitted in both the first and second trials.
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