Court in 'Lee Seong-yoon Investigation Interference' Case Tells Prosecution to "Focus Only on Defendant-Related Matters"

Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, who was indicted on charges of exerting external pressure in the investigation of the illegal travel ban case of former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The court presiding over the case involving Seoul High Prosecutor Lee Seong-yoon's alleged 'investigation interference' ordered the prosecutor to "confirm whether to amend the indictment mainly focusing on the charges related to the defendant."

On the morning of the 30th, the 27th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Ok-gon) held a continuation hearing for the trial on Lee's charge of abuse of authority. Due to a regular court personnel reshuffle last month, all three members of the trial panel were replaced, renewing the trial procedures on this day.

During the process, the defense argued that the prosecution violated the principle of "indictment exclusivity" by including many details unrelated to Lee's personal charges in the indictment. The principle of indictment exclusivity requires the prosecution to submit an indictment containing only the facts of the crime at the prosecution stage and prohibits attaching or citing documents or evidence that could lead to prejudgment.

The defense stated, "(The prosecutor) threw multiple charges in a scattergun fashion, making it difficult for the defense to know what to defend against," and argued, "The core issue should not be the outcome but 'what specific acts the defendant committed'."

The court asked, "Looking at the prosecution's charges, there are contents related to the Ministry of Justice and the Blue House," and questioned, "Since the relevance to the defendant's charges is not clearly shown and only factual details are simply stated, do we need to prove those facts in this trial?"

In response to the prosecutor's answer that "it is necessary to verify whether the Ministry of Justice officials' instructions also played a role (in the interference process)," the court said, "At present, those charges seem unrelated to this case," and added, "While relevance might emerge during future testimonies, can we proceed with the trial based on the premise that 'it might come up'?"

Although the prosecutor emphasized, "The basic position is that there is relevance to the charges," and "The contents were recorded to confirm the facts that occurred," the court stated, "This trial is about the defendant," and "It should be clarified what relationship the defendant has with the Blue House, etc., but only factual details were recorded without that."

The court also ordered, "Please confirm whether the prosecution needs to amend the charges," and added, "It seems necessary to narrow down the trial to parts related to the defendant."

In 2019, Prosecutor Lee was indicted on charges including abuse of authority for allegedly exerting pressure by stating that the travel ban was lawfully imposed during the investigation of the 'former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui's illegal travel ban case.' The prosecution's view is that Lee called the leadership of the Anyang branch office to exert pressure and distorted the investigation results. On the other hand, Lee's side denies the charges, claiming he was not involved in the case and had no motive to intervene.

Meanwhile, Lee Hyun-cheol, head prosecutor of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office, who was scheduled to testify that day, was absent for the third time due to suspected COVID-19 symptoms. At the time, Lee served as the head of the Anyang branch office and is considered a key witness in the case as he relayed the investigation team's reports to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office and conveyed the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's instructions back to the investigation team.

The court decided to hear the prosecution and defense's future evidence plans again at the next hearing on the 15th of next month and proceed with Lee Hyun-cheol's testimony.

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