Lee Bae-yong, the former chair of the National Education Commission, who is accused of instructing the destruction of evidence after providing money to Kim Geon-hee, requested an acquittal or dismissal of charges during his appeal, questioning the authority of the special prosecutor's investigation team. He reiterated that the golden turtle was merely a congratulatory gift for the election of former President Yoon Suk-yeol and was unrelated to any job solicitation.
The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 15-3, presided over by judges Seong Eon-joo, Won Ik-seon, and Lee Hee-jun, held a hearing on September 9 regarding Lee's appeal on charges of instigating evidence destruction.
Lee's legal team argued, "There is doubt about whether the special prosecutor's team has the authority to investigate this case," stating that the search warrant did not include any mention of evidence destruction. They contended that the materials obtained for a separate investigation were improperly used in the evidence destruction case, raising questions about the validity of the search warrant.
They requested the court to overturn the original ruling and either acquit Lee or dismiss the charges.
Lee's team also denied the allegations of job solicitation. In his closing statement, Lee said, "I sent the golden turtle as a gesture of congratulations and good luck when the former president was elected. It was merely a traditional gift, and I did not solicit any positions."
Regarding the instruction to delete mobile phone data, he claimed, "I was concerned about unnecessary exposure of a third party's private life," asserting that he did not specifically instruct the deletion of materials related to Kim Geon-hee. He emphasized that since there was no solicitation, there was no reason to request the destruction of related evidence.
The special prosecutor's team, led by Min Jung-ki, requested the court to dismiss Lee's appeal, effectively seeking to uphold the original sentence of 10 months in prison with a two-year probation. The driver, identified as Mr. Yang, who was also indicted, claimed he had no intent to destroy evidence, but the special prosecutor's team requested that his appeal be dismissed as well.
Lee is under investigation for allegedly providing a total of 2.65 million won worth of five golden turtles and a replica of a traditional Korean painting to Kim Geon-hee in April and June 2022, under the pretext of soliciting her appointment as chair of the National Education Commission. He was indicted for instructing his secretary, Mr. Park, and driver, Mr. Yang, to delete text messages related to Kim Geon-hee.
The first trial found Lee guilty and sentenced him to 10 months in prison with a two-year probation, while Mr. Park and Mr. Yang received fines.
The court concluded the arguments on this day and will announce its ruling on the appeals of Lee, Mr. Park, and Mr. Yang on the afternoon of the 22nd.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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