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3 years sought for ex-police officer over Lee Sun-kyun drug case leaks

Published: 03 Nov. 2025, 17:46

Late actor Lee Sun-kyun walks into the Incheon Nonhyeon Police Station on Dec. 24, 2023, for his third summons and questioning over his alleged drug use. [NEWS1]

Prosecutors are seeking a three-year prison term for a former police officer accused of leaking investigation information on the late actor Lee Sun-kyun’s drug case to the press.

The prosecution asked for a three-year prison sentence for the former inspector who was indicted on charges of leaking official secrets during a sentencing hearing at the Incheon District Court’s 11th Criminal Division, according to legal insiders on Monday.

The former officer’s lawyer said the defendant was “not the first person who leaked the report and did not gain any personal benefit from it,” asking the court for leniency.

The attorney added that the suspect, who had already been dismissed from the police force, was “a young person in their 30s whose promising future has been ruined by this incident.”

The former officer also addressed the court, saying, “I realized that even if you do 100 things right, one mistake can ruin everything. I sincerely apologize for failing to separate public and private matters as a police officer."

Prosecutors said the former investigator took photos of a drug investigation progress report related to Lee’s case and sent them to two journalists in October 2023. The report, written by the Incheon Metropolitan Police Precinct’s narcotics unit on Oct. 18, 2023, contained names, criminal records and occupations of those involved in the case.

After receiving the material from one of the reporters, an entertainment news outlet published an edited version of the report’s photo and its contents on Dec. 28, 2023, the day after Lee’s death.

The officer was later dismissed from the police and filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the disciplinary action against the Incheon police commissioner, but the court ruled against him in the first trial.

The former officer's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17 at the Incheon District Court.

Separately, a 40-year-old investigator from the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office is also on trial for allegedly disclosing investigation details about Lee’s case to a local newspaper reporter.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]