First Trial Verdict for Former Minister Lee Sang-min Over Power and Water Cutoff to Media Outlets...Ruling Also Due for Kim Ye-seong, First Lady Kim Keon Hee’s So-Called ‘Butler’ [This Week’s Court Schedule]

This week (9–13), courts are set to hand down a series of first-instance rulings in major cases related to the December 3 Martial Law Incident. Following former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the first trial verdict will be delivered for former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, who is accused of ordering power and water cutoffs to media outlets. The sentencing for Kim Ye-seong, widely described as First Lady Kim Keon Hee’s “butler,” in an embezzlement case was postponed by a week and is now scheduled for this week.
According to the legal community on the 8th, Criminal Division 32 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Ryu Kyung-jin, will hold a sentencing hearing at 2 p.m. on the 12th for Lee, who has been indicted on charges including performing important duties in furtherance of insurrection. Lee is the second former cabinet member to receive a first-instance ruling, following former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
At the closing arguments, the Special Prosecutor Team for Insurrection and Treason requested a 15-year prison term for Lee. The team argued that, on the day martial law was declared, Lee spoke with the Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency and the Commissioner of the National Fire Agency, and that he planned and ordered power and water cutoffs to media outlets for the purpose of controlling the press. The prosecutors criticized him, stating, "Driven by personal loyalty to the president and the desire for power granted in return, he abandoned his duty as minister responsible for protecting the lives and safety of the people."
Lee’s defense countered that no such phone call with the Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency took place and that there were no instructions related to power or water cutoffs in his conversation with the Commissioner of the National Fire Agency. In his final statement, Lee argued, "No cabinet member at the time could have imagined that the situation would amount to insurrection," and said it was unreasonable to claim that he spontaneously joined an insurrection without knowing the circumstances surrounding the declaration of martial law.
Although he was the competent minister under the Martial Law Act, Lee is accused of colluding in insurrection by condoning the unlawful declaration of martial law and relaying instructions to cut off power and water to media outlets. He is also charged with perjury for testifying falsely during the Constitutional Court of Korea’s impeachment trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, claiming that no such instructions had been given. In the first-instance ruling for former Prime Minister Han, however, the court found that an attempt to cut power and water to media outlets had in fact been made and treated Lee’s failure to stop it as grounds for conviction.
Criminal Division 26 of the Seoul Central District Court will deliver its first-instance verdict at 2 p.m. on the 9th for Kim Ye-seong, who has been indicted on embezzlement charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes. The court had initially set the sentencing date for the 5th but postponed the hearing once. Kim is accused of embezzling 4.6 billion won in investment funds from IMS Mobility (formerly Be My Car), in which he holds shares, and from Innovest Korea, and using the money to repay loans and cover housing and other personal expenses.
Kim has been labeled First Lady Kim Keon Hee’s “butler” and identified as a central figure in the so-called “butler gate” scandal. Allegations were also raised that, when IMS Mobility secured about 18.4 billion won in investment from large corporations and financial institutions such as Kakao Mobility in 2023, Kim’s external influence was improperly leveraged. However, matters related to the First Lady were excluded from the scope of this particular trial.
Prosecutors requested an eight-year prison term for Kim and the forfeiture of approximately 430 million won. Kim’s defense, on the other hand, argued that the prosecutors conducted an investigation that went beyond the scope of the case, even though they failed to establish any link to the First Lady, and asked the court to dismiss the indictment. Given that a previous case involving a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official, indicted during the probe into alleged preferential treatment over the Seoul–Yangpyeong Expressway, was dismissed, this ruling is expected to serve as a watershed for assessing the legitimacy of the special prosecutor’s investigation.
Criminal Division 28 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Han Dae-gyun, will hand down a first-instance verdict on the 11th for a former head of the IP Center at Samsung Electronics, identified only by the surname Ahn, who has been indicted for leaking internal trade secrets. Prosecutors allege that Ahn, then a Senior Executive Vice President, leaked internal Samsung Electronics reports while preparing for a patent lawsuit. Ahn’s side contends that the materials in question do not constitute trade secrets.
scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter