Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae: "Lifting of Lee Jong-seop's Travel Ban Judged as Official Duty"

Park "Minister Lee's detention objection... will be handled according to procedures and standards"
Terra's Kwon Do-hyung 'Decision to extradite to Korea'... "Detention period is short, necessary measures will be taken"

Park Seong-jae, Minister of Justice, indicated his intention to lift the travel ban imposed on Lee Jong-seop, former Minister of National Defense, who has been appointed as the Ambassador to Australia. The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Agency (HOCI) had registered Lee as a suspect and imposed a travel ban on him in January this year in connection with allegations of external pressure in the investigation of the death of Marine Corps Corporal Chae.

Minister of Justice Park Seong-jae is speaking at the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 26th of last month. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

On the morning of the 8th, while heading to work at the Government Complex Gwacheon, Minister Park told reporters, "I see that he is going to perform official duties, not for personal reasons or to flee," and added, "(Lee) filed an objection to the travel ban, and I think it will be handled according to procedures and standards."

He continued, "Whether to impose a travel ban is initially decided by the investigative agency, and if the person concerned files an objection, the Immigration Office reviews the case and handles it according to procedures and standards."

However, regarding whether the travel ban has actually been lifted, Minister Park said, "I understand that conclusions or details related to immigration are not publicly disclosed," and added, "Our work will be handled according to our standards."

After Lee was appointed Ambassador to Australia on the 4th of this month and the travel ban became known, the HOCI questioned him for about four hours the day before as a suspect. Lee has expressed his intention to actively cooperate with future investigations and is reportedly coordinating his schedule to depart for Australia.

Additionally, Minister Park commented on Kwon Do-hyung, CEO of Terraform Labs, for whom the Montenegrin court recently decided on extradition to Korea, saying, "I understand that the detention period is not long remaining," and added, "Once we receive formal notification, we will promptly take necessary measures in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Montenegrin authorities."

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