Prosecutors Indict Former Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu Without Detention for Assaulting Taxi Driver

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Lee Yong-gu, former Deputy Minister of Justice, who has been under investigation by the police and prosecution for assaulting a taxi driver, was indicted on the 16th. It has been 314 days since the incident occurred on November 6 last year.

The Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Park Gyu-hyung) announced that Lee was non-detained indicted on charges of assaulting a driver under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and instructing evidence destruction.

Lee is accused of grabbing and pushing the neck of a taxi driver while intoxicated and riding a taxi home on November 6 last year. He is also charged with instructing evidence destruction by requesting the taxi driver to delete the black box video inside the vehicle showing the assault scene after reaching an agreement with the driver two days later, on November 8.

The prosecution deferred indictment for the taxi driver, who was sent to the police on charges of evidence destruction, considering that he was the direct victim of the assault and deleted the video upon Lee’s request after their agreement.

The case was initially closed by the police immediately after it occurred, but after Lee was appointed Deputy Minister in early December last year and the case became public, a reinvestigation was conducted. Lee resigned from his position at the end of May due to this incident.

The prosecution also non-detained indicted police officer A from Seocho Police Station, who initially handled Lee’s case, on charges of dereliction of duty in special cases and falsification and use of false official documents.

Officer A is accused of neglecting his duty by closing the investigation as a simple assault case without securing or analyzing the taxi black box video, despite having reviewed it at the time. He is also charged with hiding these facts and preparing an investigation result report.

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