'Taxi Driver Assault' Lee Yong-gu, Deputy Minister of Justice, Resigns the Day After Prosecutor Personnel Committee Meeting

Director Kang Hoseong of the Crime Prevention Policy Bureau and Director Lee Younghee of the Correction Headquarters Apply for Honorary Retirement

Lee Yong-gu, Deputy Minister of Justice, is attending the appointment ceremony of the special prosecutor candidate recommendation committee for the Sewol ferry disaster investigation held at the National Assembly reception room on the 14th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Lee Yong-gu, Deputy Minister of Justice, who is under investigation for assaulting a taxi driver, has submitted his resignation six months after his appointment.

According to the Ministry of Justice on the 28th, Deputy Minister Lee expressed his intention to resign on the same day. He stated, "Both the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution are at a time when new innovation and leap forward are desperately needed, and I thought a new worker is necessary for this." Kang Ho-seong, Director of the Crime Prevention Policy Bureau, and Lee Young-hee, Director of the Correction Headquarters, also applied for honorary retirement to renew the organization and resolve personnel stagnation.

The decision regarding their positions came just one day after the Ministry of Justice's Prosecution Personnel Committee meeting.

Earlier, the Prosecution Personnel Committee held a meeting at the Government Complex Gwacheon the previous day to discuss the standards for personnel changes to be implemented after the inauguration of the new Prosecutor General. At this meeting, the committee reviewed flexible personnel measures within the "Regulations on the Scope of Assignments for Prosecutors at the Level of Prosecutors General and Above at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office," concerning personnel stagnation in the cohort of Go Ho-bong and related issues during personnel changes for prosecutors at the level of Supreme Prosecutors' Office prosecutors.

Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, also said, "There is some issue with personnel stagnation," adding, "Because there are various difficulties related to assignments, it seems the time has come to comprehensively review prosecution personnel."

Deputy Minister Lee's resignation appears to be linked to the recent investigation he is undergoing. He is under investigation by the police and prosecution for assaulting a taxi driver while heavily intoxicated last November.

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