Former Officials Acquitted in Kim Hak-eui Illegal Exit Case

On November 25, 2024, the Seoul High Court acquitted former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary Lee Kwang-cheol, spokesperson for the Justice Innovation Party Lee Gyu-won, and Justice Innovation Party member Cha Gyu-geun of all charges related to the illegal prevention of former Justice Ministry Vice Minister Kim Hak-eui's attempt to leave the country. The court upheld the not guilty verdicts from the first trial for Lee and Cha, while also overturning the previous four-month suspended sentence for Lee Gyu-won regarding the concealment of public documents.

The three were accused of unlawfully blocking Kim's departure from Incheon International Airport on March 22, 2019, as he was facing a renewed investigation into the 'Villa Sex Scandal.' Kim had been indicted for allegedly receiving bribes, including sexual services, amounting to 200 million won from a construction businessman, but was ultimately acquitted by the Supreme Court.

Lee Gyu-won, who was a prosecutor in the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's investigation team at the time, reportedly submitted an emergency exit ban request using a past case number that had already been dismissed. Investigations revealed that he also included a non-existent case number from the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor's Office in a subsequent approval request.

Cha, who was the head of the Ministry of Justice's Immigration Bureau, was accused of approving Lee's emergency exit ban and receiving reports on Kim's personal information. Lee Kwang-cheol was alleged to have coordinated between the two and led the overall proceedings.

While the first trial found Lee Gyu-won guilty of creating an exit approval request without the prosecutor's permission and keeping related documents at his home, the high court ruled that the actions taken to prevent Kim's departure were justified given the context of the ongoing investigation into the 'Kim Hak-eui case.' The court emphasized that the measures were necessary to prevent Kim from fleeing abroad.

Despite some concerns in the legal community about the implications of justifying illegal means for a legitimate purpose, the high court maintained that the original ruling was correct, overturning the previous guilty verdict against Lee Gyu-won. The court stated that it was difficult to view the act of taking documents home as an attempt to conceal them, indicating that there was no intent to hide evidence.

Additionally, Lee Seong-yun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and former head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Investigation Division, was also acquitted in a separate case where he was charged with obstructing the investigation into this matter during his tenure. He received a not guilty verdict in both the first and second trials.