Police Summon Lee Yong-gu on Charges of Obstruction of Evidence in 'Taxi Driver Assault' Case (Comprehensive)

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

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The police, investigating allegations of a botched investigation into the assault case involving Vice Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu and a taxi driver, summoned Vice Minister Lee on the 30th.

The Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that they summoned Vice Minister Lee for questioning that morning. The police are reportedly investigating charges including instructing evidence destruction following the incident. It is known that after the assault incident, Vice Minister Lee contacted the victim taxi driver to attempt a settlement and requested the deletion of the video footage.

Vice Minister Lee was reported to the police on suspicion of assault after grabbing the collar of a taxi driver just before getting off the taxi while intoxicated on November 6 last year. This was about three weeks before he was appointed as Vice Minister of Justice. The police closed the case without formally charging Vice Minister Lee, citing the victim's wish not to press charges.

Earlier, the Action Alliance for the Restoration of the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) filed a complaint with the prosecution on the 1st, alleging that Vice Minister Lee's proposal to delete the black box footage was an instruction to destroy evidence. The prosecution transferred this complaint to the police.

After the assault case became public following Vice Minister Lee's appointment, suspicions arose that the police conducted a 'lenient investigation.' In January this year, the police formed a fact-finding team to investigate these allegations. A representative from the Seocho Police Station, which handled the case, claimed that they only knew Vice Minister Lee was a lawyer at the time of questioning. However, it was revealed that senior officials at Seocho Police Station were aware and shared information that Vice Minister Lee was mentioned as one of the initial candidates for the first head of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office.

Vice Minister Lee expressed his intention to resign on the 28th, stating, "A new worker is needed." This was about six months after his appointment as Vice Minister in December last year.

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