Supreme Court Confirms Suspended Sentence for Former Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu in 'Taxi Driver Assault' Case (Comprehensive)

Former Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu, who was indicted for assaulting a taxi driver while intoxicated and attempting to destroy evidence such as black box footage, has been confirmed guilty.

Former Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu, indicted on charges of assaulting a taxi driver. Photo by Asia Economy DB

The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Lee Heung-gu) upheld on the 30th the original court ruling sentencing Lee to six months in prison with a two-year probation for charges of assaulting a driver under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and instructing the destruction of evidence.

Lee was indicted for assaulting a taxi driver by grabbing his collar and hitting him after falling asleep in the taxi while intoxicated on the night of November 6, 2020, and waking up near his home. He was also accused of giving the taxi driver 10 million won immediately after the incident and requesting the deletion of the black box footage capturing the assault.

Both the first and second trials found all charges against him to be true and sentenced him to six months in prison with a two-year probation. The second trial court stated, "After Lee requested the deletion of the assault footage from the driver, he also asked for false testimony ahead of the investigation," and judged that "considering Lee's extensive legal knowledge, he had intent to instruct the destruction of evidence."

Initially, the Seoul Seocho Police Station closed the investigation by applying the offense of assault, which is a crime subject to victim's forgiveness. However, after Lee was appointed Deputy Minister in 2020 and the case became public through the media, the investigation was reopened.

Lee resigned from his deputy minister position in May 2021, and the prosecution indicted him in September of the same year for assaulting a driver under the Special Act.

The prosecution also indicted a former Seocho Police Station officer who closed the investigation despite viewing the black box footage on charges including dereliction of duty, but he was acquitted by the Supreme Court on this day, following the first and second trials.

The second trial court stated, "There is room to view that the officer did not recognize that the case fell under assault of a driver under the Special Act due to an error and only failed to faithfully perform appropriate necessary measures."

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