Former Presidential Secretary Lee Kwang-cheol Awarded 7.93 Million Won in Criminal Compensation Following Acquittal in Kim Hak-ui Travel Ban Case

▲ Former Cheong Wa Dae Secretary for Civil Affairs Lee Kwang-cheol

Former Cheong Wa Dae Secretary for Civil Affairs Lee Kwang-cheol, who was acquitted after being put on trial over allegations surrounding the so-called emergency travel ban on former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui, is set to receive criminal compensation.

According to the gazette on August 19, Criminal Settlement Division 51 of the Seoul Central District Court (Senior Presiding Judge Jeon Bo-sung) decided that "the state shall pay the claimant, former Secretary Lee, 7,929,000 won for cost compensation."

Criminal compensation is a system in which the state compensates defendants whose acquittals have been finalized for damages incurred from detention or trials.

It is divided into compensation for detention and cost compensation, which covers expenses such as attorney fees and transportation costs spent for the trial.

The Kim Hak-ui case centers on allegations that lawmaker Cha Kyu-geun of the Rebuilding Korea Party, former prosecutor Lee Kyu-won, and former presidential secretary Lee Kwang-cheol illegally blocked former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui from leaving the country on March 22, 2019, after detecting his attempts to depart from Incheon International Airport.

Former prosecutor Lee, who was dispatched to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Committee on Truth and Reconciliation at the time, was accused of blocking the departure by submitting an emergency travel ban request written with a past case number for which former Vice Minister Kim had already been cleared of charges.

Lawmaker Cha, who served as the head of the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, was indicted on charges of retroactively approving the emergency travel ban despite knowing it was illegal, while former Secretary Lee, then working at Cheong Wa Dae, was indicted on charges of coordinating between lawmaker Cha and former prosecutor Lee and orchestrating the overall travel ban.

Their acquittals were finalized by the Supreme Court in June of last year.

The court ruled that the emergency travel ban against former Vice Minister Kim met all legal requirements based on the standards at the time and could not be deemed unlawful.

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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