Lee Kyuwon, Former Prosecutor in "Kim Hakui False Report Case," Receives Suspended Fine Again on Appeal

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Kyuwon of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, who was indicted for involvement in the illegal travel ban of former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, is attending a trial held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on October 15, 2021. Photo by Kang Jinhyung aymsdream@

Former Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Kyuwon, who was brought to trial for drafting a false interview report during the investigation into the "villa sex bribery allegations" involving former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hakui, has again received a suspended sentence of a fine in his appeal trial.

The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7 (Presiding Judge Lee Jaegwon) on the 16th suspended the imposition of a fine of 2 million won for Lee, who was indicted on charges including falsification and use of official documents and leaking official secrets. A suspended sentence means that for minor offenses, the imposition of the sentence is postponed, and if two years pass from the date of suspension without further incident, the conviction is effectively nullified.

Lee was brought to trial on charges of fabricating facts that Mr. Yoon, a key figure in the bribery allegations, did not actually state, and creating a false interview report while serving as a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Investigation Team of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office from November 2018 to May 2019 under the Moon Jae-in administration.

The appellate court overturned the lower court's acquittal regarding the charges that Lee leaked personal information obtained during interviews and unlawfully provided information he accessed through the Criminal Justice Information System (KICS).

The court stated, "When considering the illegality and the degree of legal interest infringement in this case, it appears to be minor. The defendant has acknowledged all the basic facts from the first trial up to this court. While these circumstances do not justify the illegal acts, they were taken into account as mitigating factors when determining the sentence."

However, the court also considered that there was significant public interest in the Truth and Reconciliation Investigation Team at the time, and that numerous media outlets had collected a substantial amount of information since 2013. Therefore, Lee's contact with journalists in an effort to obtain testimony closer to the substantive truth was taken into partial consideration.