Kim Bong-hyun's False Statement Released in Prison, Defense Attorney's Arrest Warrant Dismissed Again

A detention warrant for the then-lawyer accused of involvement in the false statement issued from prison by Kim Bong-hyun (49), former chairman of Star Mobility, has once again been dismissed.

Former Star Mobility Chairman Kim Bong-hyun Photo by Yonhap News

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On the 13th, Judge Yoo Hwan-woo, in charge of detention warrants at the Seoul Southern District Court, conducted a detention hearing for lawyer Lee (49) in the morning and dismissed the prosecution's request for a detention warrant. Judge Yoo explained, "There is room to dispute the criminal charges," and "It is difficult to see any risk of evidence destruction or flight."

Previously, the detention warrant for lawyer Lee was dismissed on the 10th of last month. Accordingly, the Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Jun-dong) re-requested a detention warrant for lawyer Lee on the 10th of this month on charges of perjury inducement, false accusation, and violation of the Communications Privacy Protection Act.

Lawyer Lee is accused of advising former chairman Kim to issue a statement from prison, later retract his testimony, and to give false advice in court. Additionally, he is alleged to have had a third party record the meeting between former chairman Kim and the prosecution and publicly disclosed it.

On October 16, 2020, former chairman Kim stated in a statement, "The prosecution tried to persuade me to cooperate so that they could punish ruling party politicians at the time," and "I provided entertainment such as alcohol to the prosecutors." Furthermore, in court on October 8, 2020, he testified, "I handed over 50 million won to former Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Kang Ki-jung through the Star Mobility representative," but after issuing the statement, he changed his story, saying that he never did so.

The prosecution has confirmed that lawyer Lee met with Son Hye-won, a member of the Open Democratic Party, and Hwang Hee-seok, a Supreme Council member, before the statement was issued from prison, and is investigating whether there is any connection to the issuance of the statement from prison.

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