Aide, senior secretary and four acquaintances also indicted

Insider trading charge not applied

Independent Rep. Lee Chun-seok, who faces allegations of trading stocks under a borrowed name, leaves the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Metropolitan Investigation Unit building in Mapo-gu after a police interview in August 2025. [Yonhap]
Independent Rep. Lee Chun-seok, who faces allegations of trading stocks under a borrowed name, leaves the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Metropolitan Investigation Unit building in Mapo-gu after a police interview in August 2025. [Yonhap]

Independent lawmaker Lee Chun-seok, who faces allegations of trading stocks under a borrowed name, has been indicted.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office's Financial Investigation Division 2, led by Senior Prosecutor Kim Tae-gyeom, said Tuesday that it had indicted Lee without detention on multiple charges. He is accused of violating the Act on Real Name Financial Transactions and Confidentiality and the Electronic Financial Transactions Act over the borrowed-name stock trading. He also faces charges of violating the Public Service Ethics Act for failing to place his shares in a blind trust as required. He is also accused of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act for receiving congratulatory and condolence money exceeding the legal limit.

Prosecutors indicted seven people in total without detention, including Lee, the aide who lent him the securities account and phone, and a senior secretary suspected of destroying evidence. Also indicted were four acquaintances who gave Lee money for congratulatory and condolence occasions in excess of the legal limit.

Prosecutors said Lee is suspected of trading stocks through a securities account under his aide's name, using a phone with a securities app installed and a password the aide provided. He allegedly did so around March 2020, while a 20th National Assembly lawmaker, and again around June 2024, shortly after taking office as a 22nd National Assembly lawmaker.

The value of shares held in the borrowed-name account exceeded 30 million won ($22,300) during the trading. Despite this, Lee did not sell the shares or place them in a blind trust within the legal deadline.

Prosecutors also confirmed that in 2021, while serving as secretary general of the National Assembly, Lee received a total of 29 million won from four acquaintances. The money was described as condolence payments for his mother's funeral and congratulatory payments for his daughter's wedding.

Allegations surfaced in August 2025 that Lee had used nonpublic information as chief of the National Planning Committee's second economic subcommittee to trade shares in an AI-related company. According to prosecutors, the aide then instructed the senior secretary to shred documents in Lee's office and remove a laptop.

However, the earlier decision not to refer Lee for prosecution on the Capital Markets Act charge tied to the alleged use of nonpublic information was upheld. Prosecutors had requested a reinvestigation and reviewed the case records again, but ultimately returned them after concluding that the police's original judgment was reasonable.


newday@heraldcorp.com