Prosecution Requests Amendment of Indictment for Cha Gyu-geun and Lee Gyu-won in 'Kim Hak-ui Departure Ban' Case... Additional Involvement of Cho Kuk Added

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] It has been reported that the indictment against those prosecuted for illegally imposing a travel ban on former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui includes circumstances indicating the involvement of Cho Kuk, then Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House.

According to the legal community on the 10th, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigation team (led by Lee Jung-seop, Head of Criminal Division 3) submitted a request to the Seoul Central District Court on the 6th for permission to amend the indictment in the case concerning Cha Gyu-geun, Director of the Immigration and Foreign Policy Headquarters at the Ministry of Justice, and Lee Gyu-won, then a prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Past Affairs Investigation Division, who are charged with abuse of authority.

The prosecution amended the indictment to include that Prosecutor Lee learned on March 22, 2019, that former Vice Minister Kim was attempting to leave the country, called Lee Kwang-chul, then Senior Administrative Officer and Secretary for Civil Affairs, and said that approval from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office was necessary for the travel ban, after which Secretary Lee contacted former Senior Secretary Cho Kuk.

It also included that former Senior Secretary Cho contacted Yoon Dae-jin, then Director of the Prosecutor's Office at the Ministry of Justice, who in turn contacted Bong Wook, then Deputy Prosecutor General at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, to convey Prosecutor Lee's request.

The decision on whether to permit the amendment of the indictment will be made at the second pretrial hearing scheduled for the 15th.

Former Senior Secretary Cho Kuk was also named in the indictment of Lee Sung-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (then Head of the Anti-Corruption and Serious Crime Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office), who was indicted last month on charges of exerting pressure to halt the prosecution's investigation into this case.

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