The first preparatory hearing for the case against former Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min, who served under Moon Jae-in, and former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi on charges of obstruction of business was held on the 17th and lasted only 57 minutes.
The two were indicted without detention in January on charges that they pressured private companies to enable Lee Jeong-geun, former Deputy Secretary General of the Democratic Party, to seek employment. On that day, both Noh and Kim denied the charges. The court decided to hold another preparatory hearing on June 16.
Im Hye-won, Chief Judge of Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 19, opened the first preparatory hearing for Noh Young-min and Kim Hyun-mi, who were charged with obstruction of business, that day. Noh and Kim did not appear in court. Defendants are not obligated to attend preparatory hearings, which organize issues and evidence before the main trial that determines guilt or innocence.
Lee Jeong-geun, who is suspected of having received preferential treatment for employment, ran as a candidate for the Democratic Party in the 21st National Assembly election on April 2020 but lost. Afterward, he became a full-time advisory member at Korea Integrated Logistics, a subsidiary of CJ Logistics, in August of the same year.
Prosecutors believe that at that time, Presidential Chief of Staff Noh Young-min and Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi obstructed human resource tasks at Korea Integrated Logistics by giving Lee preferential employment. Lee is known to lack expertise in logistics.
In response, the lawyers for Noh and Kim stated through a previously submitted opinion letter that they "deny all charges."
Additionally, both Noh and Kim's legal teams opposed the acceptance of significant portions of the recorded calls and text messages of Lee presented as evidence by prosecutors. They specifically claimed that the recorded calls were unlawfully obtained evidence.
Meanwhile, Lee Jeong-geun also became the starting point of the investigation into the 'money envelope incident' at the Democratic Party convention. During its investigation of Lee's bribery allegations in August and September 2022, prosecutors secured over 30,000 audio files from his mobile phone, which mentioned former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil (currently leader of the Sonamu Party) and other members of the Democratic Party, leading to the investigation into the money envelope incident.
In the first trial, former leader Song was acquitted of the money envelope allegations but found guilty only of receiving illegal political funds through external support groups. The first trial court did not recognize the audio files of Lee Jeong-geun as evidence. Former leader Song is currently undergoing a second trial.