'Former Chief Secretary Lee Byung-gi and Others Claim "Not Guilty" in First Trial for Obstructing Sewol Special Investigation Commission'

Former Presidential Chief of Staff Lee Byung-ki Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Former high-ranking officials of the Park Geun-hye administration’s Blue House and the old ruling party, who were indicted on charges of obstructing the investigation by the 4·16 Sewol Ferry Disaster Special Investigation Commission (Special Commission), denied the charges at their first trial.

On the 30th, the defense attorney of former Blue House Chief of Staff Lee Byung-ki stated at the first pretrial hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 31 (Presiding Judge Seongpil Cho), "We claim not guilty both in terms of facts and legal grounds."

The defense attorneys of former Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Hyun Ki-hwan, former Senior Secretary for Policy Coordination Hyun Jung-taek, and former Senior Secretary Ahn Jong-beom, who were indicted alongside former Chief Lee, also argued similarly, asserting their innocence.

The defense attorney of former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kim Hyung-seok presented a different argument from the others.

He argued, "The Special Commission failed to produce results because the extremely political decision to reveal the president’s whereabouts during the seven hours was made, which then led to political strife between the ruling and opposition parties. The indictment applies abuse of power to the entire government decision centered on the Presidential Secretariat, but the defendant was not identified as being in collusion with Blue House personnel."

Former Chief Lee and former Minister Kim’s defense attorneys also claimed that the case is a "double prosecution," as the basic facts are identical to those in a case where former Blue House Economic Secretary Ahn Jong-beom and others were indicted for obstructing the Special Commission and received first-instance rulings at the Seoul Eastern District Court.

Former Chief Lee and others are accused of halting the appointment process of the Special Commission’s Director of Fact-Finding, who was about to be approved by the Prime Minister, through the Ministry of Personnel Management in response to the Blue House’s resolution on investigating the Blue House’s whereabouts in November 2015.

During this process, they were investigated for obstructing the Special Commission’s investigative authority by not dispatching 17 officials from 10 ministries, including all 12 officials who needed to be additionally dispatched.

Former Chief Lee is also accused of forcibly ending the Special Commission’s activities by completely halting discussions on extending the commission’s activity period, recalling dispatched officials, and not executing the budget.

Former Chief Lee and others are also charged with drafting and reporting a document on a "Vice Chairman replacement plan," which involved having an administrative officer from the Blue House’s Maritime Secretary’s Office review the option of dismissing former Sewol Special Commission Vice Chairman Lee Heon when he refused to resign.

The Sewol Special Investigation Unit (headed by Prosecutor Im Gwan-hyeok of the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office), launched on November 11 last year, investigated the case and sent nine people including former Chief Lee to trial in May. Earlier in February, the Special Unit also indicted 11 members of the Coast Guard leadership, including former Coast Guard Commissioner Kim Seok-gyun, without detention, holding them responsible for the failure of the rescue operation.

The Special Unit continues to investigate other Sewol-related matters, including allegations of surveillance on Sewol victims’ families by the former Defense Security Command (now the Defense Security Support Command), helicopter transfer suspicions and CCTV manipulation allegations announced by the Social Disaster Special Investigation Commission (known as the second Special Commission).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.