Prosecution Seeks Three-Year Prison Term for Investigator Who Leaked Late Lee Seongyun's Case Information

Prosecutors Indict Investigator on Official Information Leakage Charges

Prosecution: "Defendant Destroyed Evidence by Replacing Mobile Phone"

"I Apologize for Causing a Scandal Through My Careless Actions as a Public Official"

Prosecutors have requested a prison sentence for a prosecution investigator who was put on trial for leaking investigation information related to actor Lee Seongyun, who died while under investigation on drug charges.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Judge Gong Woojin of the Incheon District Court’s 14th Criminal Division held a final hearing on June 12 for A, a prosecution investigator in his 40s who was indicted on charges including official information leakage.

In 2024, the police officer involved in leaking investigation information related to Lee Sun-kyun underwent a warrant validity hearing. Photo by Yonhap News.

During the trial, prosecutors requested a three-year prison sentence, stating, "The defendant appears to acknowledge the charges but claims that he only heard vague rumors from colleagues, denying the key facts. There is a clear discrepancy between the defendant’s statements and those of his colleague, who testified that he had not heard about the case at all."

They added, "The defendant also encouraged a witness to falsely testify that he did not know from whom or where he had heard the information. This is very similar in content and intent to the defendant’s own statements."

Furthermore, prosecutors said, "The defendant initially denied part of the crime, but changed his statement when confronted with evidence to the contrary. He also replaced his mobile phone to destroy evidence."

In 2024, Lee Seongyun is undergoing a warrant hearing on charges of leaking investigation information. Photo by Yonhap News.

In response, A’s defense attorney argued, "A journalist who was a high school senior to the defendant persistently approached him for exclusive stories, and the defendant actively cooperated. Reflecting on his time working with the defendant as a prosecutor, he was always proactive and had a strong sense of duty."

The defense attorney added, "In the past, when high-profile celebrity cases broke out, it was common for colleagues to share such news in casual conversation."

The defendant stated, "I apologize for causing a scandal as a public official. I am also sorry to those who were troubled by my actions."

A was indicted for providing internal police investigation information about actor Lee Seongyun’s drug allegations to journalist B from a daily newspaper in the Gyeonggi area twice in October 2023.

The media outlet published an exclusive report on October 19, 2023, with the headline "Top Star L Under Internal Investigation for Drug Allegations."

Meanwhile, it is known that actor Lee Seongyun was booked by Incheon Police Agency on October 14, 2023, five days before the media report was released. Following the report, Lee was summoned by the police three times over about two months. Four days after the third summons, on December 27, 2023, he was found dead near Waryong Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.