Prosecution Seeks 2-Year Prison Sentence for Lee Gwang-cheol in 'Kim Hak-ui Illegal Departure Ban' Case

Former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Lee Kwang-chul, who was indicted for involvement in the illegal travel ban of former Ministry of Justice Vice Minister Kim Hak-ui, is attending a trial at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution has requested a prison sentence for former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Lee Kwang-chul, who was indicted on charges of attempting to illegally block the departure of former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui.

On the 16th, at the sentencing hearing held before the 27th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Ok-gon), the prosecution asked the court to "sentence defendant Lee Kwang-chul to two years in prison." Prosecutors also requested three-year prison sentences for Prosecutor Lee Kyu-won and former Legal Research and Training Institute researcher Cha Gyu-geun, who were indicted together on charges of conspiring with Lee.

The prosecution argued, "This case involves illegally blocking the departure of a former public official who was demonized through public opinion manipulation," adding, "It is a case where a government with overwhelming power surveilled a private citizen, constituting state violence."

They continued, "Adhering to lawful procedures during investigations is an indispensable value, yet the harsh reality is that there is a temptation to cross the line for the sake of justifying the purpose and discovering the truth," emphasizing, "Nevertheless, it is the prosecution and the courts that must intervene when the line that must not be crossed is crossed."

Former Secretary Lee, Prosecutor Lee, and former researcher Cha are accused of illegally blocking former Deputy Minister Kim’s departure on March 22, 2019, when his attempt to leave from Incheon International Airport was detected (charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of rights). Prosecutor Lee, who was dispatched to the Past Affairs Investigation Team at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office at the time, submitted an emergency departure ban request using a case number from a past incident for which Kim had already been cleared, thereby blocking his departure. It was also investigated that the subsequent approval request included a non-existent investigation number.

Former researcher Cha, who was the head of the Immigration Headquarters at the Ministry of Justice, was investigated for approving the departure ban request a day later despite knowing that Prosecutor Lee had illegally blocked Kim’s departure, and was also brought to trial.

Former Secretary Lee is accused of leading the entire illegal departure ban process by coordinating between former researcher Cha and Prosecutor Lee after learning that former Deputy Minister Kim was attempting to leave the country.

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