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| On the morning of the 25th, Vice Minister of Justice Yong-gu Lee goes to the Gwacheon government office and listens to reports from reporters about the assault of a taxi driver. 2021.1.25/News1 © News1 Reporter Yoonsung Koo |
The controversy over the’investigation of suspicion of care’ is growing rapidly as the police confirmed the video of the taxi black box, which is a key material that can apply the specific crime weighted punishment law (special price law) related to the assault of a taxi driver by the Ministry of Justice, Lee Yong-gu.
As the Seoul Police Agency organized a fact-finding team and initiated an investigation according to the direction of the National Investigation Headquarters (Guksubon), it is expected that a line investigation by police related to this incident, such as the investigator in charge of the Seoul Seocho Police Station and the command line, will be inevitable.
It is noteworthy that the prosecution’s investigation into the possibility that the existence of the Vice Minister’s assault video may have been transmitted to the head offices such as the Seoul Police Agency or the National Police Agency is also noteworthy.
According to the police on the 25th, the Seoul Police Agency formed a joint hearing-investigation squad the day before and initiated an investigation immediately. This is also the first order of Noodlebon, a police investigation control tower launched this year.
The fact-finding team consisted of 13 people, headed by the head of the investigation department of the Seoul Police Agency. The joint organization of the hearing and investigation departments is interpreted with the intention of promptly revealing the truth by conducting simultaneous inspection and investigation as the matter is serious.
The fact-finding team was organized because it was confirmed that investigator Seo Cho-seo, who was in charge of Lee’s assault case for a taxi driver, confirmed the black box video containing the assault scene and tolerated it.
A police investigation revealed that the taxi driver B showed the black box video to Sergeant A, which was restored by an outside company, and that Sergeant A, who confirmed this, gave a word to Mr. B that “I will not see it.”
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said, “Investigator A in charge of Seocho-seo (five days after the incident) reported that the black box video was checked on November 11 last year. I said.
The police have stated that there is no direct evidence regarding Lee’s assault of a taxi driver through regular meetings at the National Police Agency and Seoul Police Agency. A police official explained at a regular meeting of the National Police Agency on December 28 last year, “In this case, there was no direct evidence to confirm the facts other than the victim’s statement (videos, etc.).”
However, after the media report, a police official apologized at the regular meeting of the National Police Agency on that day, saying, “I gave an explanation of the video part at the last regular meeting, but it was confirmed that some of it was not true.”
The key issue to be investigated by the fact-finding team is expected to be the’suspect investigation suspicion’. In particular, whether it was the arbitrary judgment of Sergeant A who handled this case or was in accordance with the command line’s instructions is the biggest issue.
Until now, the police box at the police box in Seocho-seo, who was first dispatched, reported the case to Seocho-seo as a case of a special price law according to “assault on a driver while driving,” but officer A handled it as a simple assault based on Mr. B’s petition for non-punishment. It is reported that it was reported to the top. However, it is said that it did not report on core material evidence such as assault video.
Detective Chief Seo Cho-seo, the command line, received a report on the conclusion of the internal investigation and made an oral report to Chief Seo Cho (currently, the head of the investigation division of the Seoul Police Agency), and the Chief Seo Cho was known to have accepted this. However, in this process, it has not been confirmed whether Sergeant A actually made a reduced report or whether the command line was exhausted.
In response, a police official said, “I think the fact-finding team will check the related details.” In addition, the police said that the incident had not been reported to the superiors, the Seoul Police Agency, the National Police Agency, and the Blue House.
Some are raising doubts that the head of the police cannot know this even though Vice Minister Lee is a key figure in the current regime, who served as the head of the Justice Department at the Ministry of Justice from August 2017 to April last year. It is pointed out that at the time, the chief of criminals Seo Cho-seo and Chief Seocho-seo had been from the bar exam, so they would have been fully aware of the existence and major careers of the senior vice minister.
Regarding this, a police official explained, “When I checked with the staff, they said they didn’t know that Vice Minister Lee served as the head of the legal office,” and “We do not search all the subjects of the investigation.”
In the future, the fact-finding team is expected to conduct a line investigation on the police box in the jurisdiction that first dispatched, as well as the police officer A, the then chief Seocho and the chief criminal. In addition, it is expected to look into whether the Vice Minister Lee’s request for the case without a request by analyzing the mobile phone of slope A.
Deputy Minister Lee said, “I have no contact” when asked if he had contacted the high-ranking police officers at the time of the incident, meeting reporters on his way to work.
The fact-finding team said, “We will thoroughly investigate related suspicions such as the time when the person in charge (Sergeant A) learned whether the video exists, and whether to report it to the team leader, manager, and chief of Seo Cho-seo.” Regardless of the publicity, we will investigate strictly.”
The suspicion of the police’s investigation into the Vice Minister Lee is likely to lead to an investigation by the prosecution. It is reported that the prosecution, which is known to call an official of the black box company on this day, is also adjusting the summons investigation schedule of Sergeant A Seo Cho-seo, who was in charge of handling the case of the Vice Minister.
The prosecution plans to proceed with the investigation regardless of whether the police investigate the facts of Sergeant A.
Meanwhile, on the night of November 6 last year, Vice Minister Lee was investigated by the police after catching a taxi driver waking him up in front of his apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The police box in the jurisdiction who first dispatched reported it to Seocho-seo as a case of a special law incident under the’assault of a driver while driving,’ but there was a controversy over suspicion that Seocho-seo treated it as a’simple assault’ and terminated the internal affairs without a case.