Former Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu's Side "Admits Taxi Driver Assault Charge, but Claims Diminished Mental Capacity"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Former Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu, who was indicted on charges of assaulting a taxi driver while driving under the influence, has changed his previous stance denying the charges. He has admitted guilt but requested the court to consider his intoxicated and mentally impaired state at the time.

Lee’s attorney stated at the second trial held on the 22nd at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 32-2 (Presiding Judges Cho Seung-woo, Bang Yoon-seop, Kim Hyun-soon), “(Lee) does not claim innocence but only asserts diminished mental capacity.”

Previously, Lee’s lawyer had denied the assault charges, but changed his position during this hearing.

The attorney explained, “We advised the defendant (Lee) to dispute whether he was aware that the taxi was in operation, but he said he did not want to go that far.” He further claimed that a security guard witnessed Lee being so intoxicated after drinking at the home of former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu that he could barely stand.

Additionally, the lawyer argued that Lee left an electronic cigarette in the taxi and only learned about the incident the next day from people around him, citing this as evidence of his diminished mental capacity due to intoxication.

With Lee’s side clarifying their position, the key issue going forward has narrowed to whether Lee was mentally impaired at the time of the incident.

On the other hand, the prosecution claimed that two police officers who responded to the scene testified during investigation that “the passenger (Lee) was not severely intoxicated,” and “he was quite drunk but not to the extent of losing control, only slightly staggering.”

The prosecution also played black box footage recorded during the assault on the taxi driver in court. This video, which has been released to the media, shows Lee grabbing the driver by the collar and verbally abusing him.

The court scheduled to summon the taxi driver as a witness for questioning on the 19th of next month. On the 26th, the court will also question police officer A, who was indicted on charges of attempting to cover up the case by applying a simple assault charge instead of driver assault (special dereliction of duty under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes).

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