Lee Sang-min, the former Minister of the Interior and Safety, appeared for a pre-trial detention suspect questioning (warrant review) at the Seoul Central District Court on the 31st of last month. Photo by Moon Jae-won.
Cho Eun-seok’s special prosecutor team, which is investigating charges such as insurrection and foreign aggression against former President Yoon Seok-yeol, has notified former Minister Lee Sang-min, who is detained on charges related to important tasks of insurrection, to appear before the special prosecutor team for an investigation on the 4th.
According to a report by Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 3rd, the insurrection special prosecutor team informed former Minister Lee, who is held at the Seoul Detention Center, to appear at the office of the special prosecutor for insurrection located at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, by 10 a.m. on the 4th. Former Minister Lee was detained on the 1st for charges including engagement in important tasks of insurrection, abuse of power, and perjury.
Former Minister Lee faces charges of not preventing the illegal declaration of martial law as the head of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which is the main department responsible for martial law during peacetime, and effectively condoning it. He is also accused of, following orders from former President Yoon, instructing the Fire Department and others to cut off electricity and water supply to media organizations such as Kyunghyang Shinmun after the declaration of martial law.
This investigation marks the first field investigation since the detention of former Minister Lee. It is reported that the investigation schedule was set for the 4th due to the former minister’s side requesting delays, citing restrictions on attorney consultations over the weekend.
Former Minister Lee was summoned as a suspect on the 25th of last month and underwent about 19 hours of investigation, continuing past midnight. According to the Criminal Procedure Act, the special prosecutor team can detain the former minister for up to 20 days before bringing him to trial.