Police Fact-Finding Team Investigates Taxi Driver Victim of 'Vice Minister Lee Yong-gu Assault'

Lee Yong-gu, Deputy Minister of Justice. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Joint Fact-Finding Investigation Team, which is investigating allegations that the investigator in charge ignored the black box footage showing Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu assaulting a taxi driver, has questioned the victim taxi driver.

According to parties involved in the case on the 28th, the investigation team met with taxi driver Mr. A near his home on the 25th to verify the facts.

The team reportedly asked Mr. A whether Sergeant B of the Seoul Seocho Police Station, who was the investigator in charge of the case, said something to the effect of "I will pretend I did not see it" after viewing the black box footage.

Mr. A reportedly responded that he heard such remarks, but since he had reached an agreement with Deputy Minister Lee at the time and submitted a letter of no prosecution request, he did not file any complaints or protests.

Deputy Minister Lee assaulted a taxi driver who tried to wake him up while he was intoxicated in front of his apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on November 6 last year. However, the police closed the case as a preliminary investigation, applying the offense of assault, which is a crime that cannot be prosecuted without the victim's complaint, citing the absence of black box footage proving Lee's crime and the agreement with the taxi driver.

However, controversy arose after allegations surfaced that Sergeant B, the investigator in charge, covered up the black box footage showing the incident despite having reviewed it. The police recently placed Sergeant B on administrative leave and formed a fact-finding investigation team to conduct an inquiry.

The prosecution is also reinvestigating the case, having raided the criminal division office of the Seocho Police Station the day before, securing case reception records, internal reports, and mobile phones. It is known that the prosecution is investigating Sergeant B on charges of dereliction of duty.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Lee told reporters on his way to the Ministry of Justice on the day that the raid on the Seocho Police Station was "unrelated to me." When asked whether he had any contact with senior police officials at the time of the incident, he denied, saying, "Absolutely not."

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