Yong-cheol Lee Denies Involvement in Kim Hyun-ji Case

Yong-cheol Lee, the nominee for Minister of Justice, denied any involvement in the case of Kim Hyun-ji, the chief of staff to the president, while representing the law firm Saegil. He also stated that he did not actively participate in the defense of past murder and sex crime cases.

According to legal sources on November 11, Saegil represented Kim in a defamation case under the Information and Communications Network Act in 2013. Lee's team clarified that he worked at Saegil only until September 2010 and had no involvement in the case after his departure.

Kim was charged with sending over 33,000 text messages containing false information about sexual harassment by then-Seongnam City Council member Lee Deok-soo while serving as the secretary general of the Seongnam Agenda 21 Council. She later requested a formal trial.

Saegil argued that there was no intent to defame Kim and that the actions were in the public interest. However, the court found her guilty and imposed a fine of 1.5 million won. The ruling became final as neither party appealed.

Saegil is the same law firm where both Lee and President Lee Jae-myung were previously affiliated. Lee participated in the establishment of Saegil's predecessor, the Blue Joint Law Office, in 1995 and was involved in the founding of Saegil in 2000, serving as the lead attorney at both firms. President Lee also worked at Saegil before being elected mayor of Seongnam in 2010.

Lee served on the transition team for President Lee Jae-myung's mayoral office and later became the CEO of the Seongnam Industrial Promotion Foundation in 2011. Kim also served as a secretary on the same transition team. However, there is no evidence to suggest that Lee introduced Kim's case to Saegil or was involved in its acceptance.

Additionally, it was revealed that Lee's name appeared on the defense team for the 2003 Yangpyeong Jungmisan log cabin family murder case. In this case, four victims were killed by the defendant, Jeong, after demanding the return of investment funds, leading to a death sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court.

Lee's team stated that his name was included in the defense team as part of a formal submission process by the law firm and emphasized that he did not actively participate in the case.

Separately, reports indicated that Lee's name was also listed in the defense team for a sex crime case that occurred in 2003 in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, which resulted in a dismissal of charges. His team reiterated that his name was included during the law firm's submission process and that he had no involvement in the actual defense.