CHARGES AGAINST LEE YOUNG-GU’S CASE

[Anchor Lead]

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday accepted the resignation of Vice Justice Minister Lee Yong-gu, who offered to step down following controversy over alleged assault of a taxi driver. The cab driver is confirmed to have briefly driven the car after the assault.Based on such grounds, the former vice minister may likely face charges under the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes Act.

[Pkg]

This is a blackbox footage showing the night of the incident on November 6th last year. When a taxi carrying former vice miniser Lee Yong-gu nearly arrives at his home...

[Soundbite] "Is this where you want to get off?"

Lee suddenly begins swearing at the driver.

[Soundbite] "(XXX.) Why are you cursing?"

He even physically grabs the cab driver.

[Soundbite] "This is all caught on tape. (How dare you...) It’s all recorded. Let’s go to the police."

The video footage shows the driver making a brief stop at Lee’s home and then proceeding to drive again following the assault. Under the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes Act, those who assault drivers while they are operating a vehicle face penalties regardless of any settlement deals. This also includes moments when the driver makes brief stops to pick up or drop off customers. According to the black box footage, the former vice minister may well be subject to charges under this specific law of aggravated punishment. Investigators also found circumstantial evidence suggesting that Lee had asked the driver to give false testimony. According to the driver, Lee asked him to tell police that he tried to wake him up after completely stopping the car.

[Soundbite] (Cab driver(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "He told me to say that I was grabbed in the process of trying wake him up after opening the car door. And I said, why is he trying to make me lie?"

Lee also demanded that the blackbox footage be deleted.

[Soundbite] (Cab driver(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "Talking to him on the phone, when he asked for the video to be deleted, I said that’s not necessary and I just won’t show it."

In response, Lee said it’s true that he asked for a false testimony which was an immoral thing to do. And he said the request to delete the footage was out of concern that it may reach the hands of a third party.