Cha Gyugeun "Lee Jongseop's Withdrawal Objection Accepted, Abnormal"... Ministry of Justice Refutes as "Clear Falsehood"

Former Head of Immigration Office Cha: "Almost No Cases of Objection to Travel Ban Accepted During Investigation"
Ministry of Justice: "Three Cases Accepted During Former Head Cha's Tenure... Will Take Legal Action"

The Ministry of Justice rebutted the statement by former Director Cha Gyu-geun of the Immigration and Foreigners Policy Headquarters (currently a research fellow at the Legal Research Institute), who said, "There are almost no cases where objections to travel bans due to investigations are accepted," calling it a "clear falsehood."

Research Fellow Cha Gyugeun, Korea Legal Research Institute. / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the 14th, the Ministry of Justice stated regarding former Director Cha’s remarks on the program ‘CBS Park Jae-hong’s One-on-One Match’ that "Based on my experience as the chairman of the Ministry of Justice’s Travel Ban Review Committee, accepting the objection to the travel ban on former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop was extremely abnormal," and "There are almost no cases where objections to travel bans due to investigations are accepted," that the travel ban was lifted by the Minister of Justice following the Travel Ban Review Committee’s deliberation results.

The Ministry of Justice explained that from 2019 to last year, it accepted six objections to travel bans requested by investigative agencies, and among these, two were accepted after going through the Travel Ban Review Committee. Furthermore, the Ministry added that three of the six cases were accepted during former Director Cha’s tenure.

Additionally, the Ministry of Justice stated that although investigative agencies did not agree to lift the travel bans in all six objection cases, the Ministry substantively reviewed the necessity of the travel bans and accepted the objections, thereby lifting the bans.

The Ministry of Justice said, "The objection to the travel ban on former Minister Lee was also accepted following the Travel Ban Review Committee’s deliberation results, and the Minister of Justice lifted the travel ban," adding, "It was confirmed that at the time of the travel ban on former Minister Lee, no reports were made to the Minister or Vice Minister of Justice or the Presidential Office, and no related information reports were created."

The Ministry emphasized that it will take appropriate legal action against former Director Cha. The Ministry stated, "We will take corresponding legal measures against former Director Cha, who made false statements about his duties while serving as the head of the Immigration and Foreigners Policy Headquarters overseeing exit inspections, thereby damaging the credibility of the Ministry of Justice’s exit inspection work, and against the media outlet that reported false information without any fact-checking regarding the Ministry of Justice."

Earlier, former Director Cha said in interviews on the previous day’s ‘CBS Park Jae-hong’s One-on-One Match,’ on the 12th’s ‘Kim Eo-jun’s Humility is Difficult News Factory,’ and on the 11th with OhmyNews, "When travel bans are imposed on important figures, information reports are prepared and reported up to the Minister, Vice Minister, and the Office of Civil Affairs Chief, so it is unacceptable that the travel ban was not identified during personnel screening."

Former Minister Lee was reported to the High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Division (the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, CPO) last September over allegations of interference in the investigation of the death of Marine Sergeant Chae Mo. After being appointed ambassador to Australia, former Minister Lee appeared before the CPO on the 7th of this month for questioning and filed an objection to the travel ban with the Ministry of Justice. Subsequently, on the 8th, the Ministry held a travel ban review committee meeting and lifted the travel ban on former Minister Lee.

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