A Police Officer, Journalist And More Indicted For Leaking Information Regarding The Late Lee Sun Kyun’s Investigation

Prosecutors have indicted a prosecutor’s investigator, a police officer, and a journalist—without detention—for leaking investigation details related to the late actor Lee Sun Kyun, who was under investigation for drug use before his death.

On June 5, the Criminal Division 6 of the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office announced that it had indicted Investigator A (from the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office) and Police Officer B (from the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency) without detention on charges of leaking official secrets and violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

Journalist C was also indicted for violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

Investigator A was accused of leaking police intelligence about Lee Sun Kyun’s drug allegations on two occasions in October 2023 to a regional newspaper reporter D in Gyeonggi Province. This led to a scoop published on October 19, 2023, titled “Top Star L Under Internal Investigation for Drug Use.”

Police Officer B was accused of taking a photo of an internal report detailing the investigation’s progress after that article was published and sending it to journalist C. Officer B also allegedly provided personal information about the investigation subject to another reporter, E.

Journalist C was then indicted for forwarding that personal information, including Lee Sun Kyun’s full name, to yet another journalist, F.

Lee Sun Kyun had been formally booked on drug charges on October 14, 2023, and was questioned by police three times before being found dead in his SUV near Waryong Park in Seoul on December 27 of the same year.

Following his death, the Incheon Metropolitan Police requested the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency to investigate the leak of case details. The Gyeonggi Southern Police raided the narcotics unit at the Incheon police agency in January and later raided the media outlet and Incheon prosecutors’ office in April, eventually referring Investigator A, Officer B, and four journalists to the prosecution without detention.

However, prosecutors dropped charges against three of the journalists (D, E, and F) who only received the information, stating that the “unlawful intent” required to prove a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act could not be established.

A prosecution official stated, “We will respond firmly to ensure that citizens’ rights and privacy are protected against breaches of confidentiality and indiscriminate leaking of personal information by public officials.”

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