Special Counsel Appeals First Ruling for Lee Sangmin...“Erroneous Facts, Unjust Sentencing”

Lee Filed His Appeal First On The 13th

The special prosecutor’s team led by Cho Eunseok for the insurrection case has appealed the first-instance ruling that sentenced former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sangmin to seven years in prison.

On the 18th, the special prosecutor’s team announced, "We have filed an appeal on the grounds of misapprehension of facts, misinterpretation of the law, and unjust sentencing."

Lee Sangmin, former Minister of the Interior and Safety, is attending the first court hearing on charges including carrying out key duties related to the insurrection at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on Oct. 17, 2025. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Earlier, the 32nd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Ryu Kyungjin) found Lee guilty of the charge of carrying out key duties related to the insurrection. The court ruled that on December 3 last year, the day martial law was declared, he received from former President Yoon Suk Yeol orders to blockade the National Assembly and other key institutions and to cut power and water to media outlets, and then requested cooperation from Heo Seokgon, who was then Commissioner of the National Fire Agency.

The court also found him guilty of perjury, judging that during the Constitutional Court’s impeachment trial of former President Yoon in February last year, he gave false testimony to the effect that he had neither ordered power and water cuts nor received such orders from the president.

However, the court acquitted him of abuse of authority causing obstruction of another’s exercise of rights, including the allegation that by relaying the orders to cut power and water to former Fire Commissioner Heo he compelled him to perform duties outside his authority, such as putting in place a readiness posture to respond immediately to related requests from the police. The court then sentenced him to seven years in prison.

The special prosecutor’s team had requested a 15-year prison term. Their decision to appeal is interpreted as reflecting their view that a second-instance judgment is needed on some of the counts that resulted in acquittal, and that the sentence is excessively lenient compared to the gravity of his culpability.

Lee also appealed the first-instance ruling on the 13th, refusing to accept the judgment.