Lee Jae-yong faces reinvestigation on obstruction of duties charges

Prosecutors also seek supplementary probe into professional negligence counts

Lee Jae-yong, former director of the National Information Resources Service, center, answers reporters' questions at a briefing on the agency's government service outage held at the Government Seoul Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Sept. 27 last year. [Yonhap]
Lee Jae-yong, former director of the National Information Resources Service, center, answers reporters' questions at a briefing on the agency's government service outage held at the Government Seoul Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Sept. 27 last year. [Yonhap]

Prosecutors have asked police to reinvestigate Lee Jae-yong, the former director of the National Information Resources Service, in connection with a fire at the agency last year that paralyzed key government systems.

The Daejeon District Prosecutors Office reviewed the case file on obstruction of duties charges against Lee last month and asked the Daejeon Yuseong Police Station to reopen the investigation. Police have since resumed the probe.

The case stems from a complaint filed Sept. 30 last year with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office by the civic group Seomin Minsaeng Daechaek Wiwonhoe, which accused President Lee Jae Myung, Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung, former NIRA director Lee, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik and National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac of dereliction of duty and obstruction of duties, among other charges.

The group alleged that Lee and Minister Yun had neglected their obligation to manage critical national information systems, allowing the fire to occur. It also accused President Lee, Prime Minister Kim and others of failing to establish adequate safeguards — including a redundant operating system — and of insufficient policy preparedness.

Police cleared all of the accused on March 17 and declined to refer the case to prosecutors. Prosecutors, however, determined that the obstruction of duties charge against the former NIRA director warranted further investigation and sent the case back to police.

The fire broke out at around 8:20 p.m. on Sept. 26 last year at the NIRA's main facility in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, knocking out parts of the government's central administrative information system. The outage disrupted major public services, including the Government24 portal, causing widespread inconvenience for citizens.

Meanwhile, police had also been conducting a separate investigation — independent of the civic group's complaint — into whether lax oversight by NIRA management and poor safety practices during construction contributed to the fire. In December last year, police referred 19 individuals, including Lee, agency officials and contractor representatives, along with four corporations, to prosecutors without detention on charges of professional negligence by fire or violations of the Electrical Construction Business Act.

That case, too, was sent back to police for supplementary investigation. The Daejeon District Prosecutors Office has since taken over the matter and is continuing the probe while reviewing whether to seek indictments.


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