SUWON, South Korea-- A presidential secretary was indicted Thursday on the charge of abuse of power in allegedly orchestrating an illegal exit ban on a former vice justice minister.

Prosecutors in the Suwon District Prosecutors Office indicted Lee Gwang-cheol, presidential secretary for civil affairs, on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

Lee offered his resignation to President Moon Jae-in after the indictment.

Lee is accused of colluding with Cha Gyu-geun, commissioner of the Korea Immigration Service, and prosecutor Lee Kyu-won to ban former Vice Minister Kim Hak-ui from leaving the country with falsified documents in March 2019. Kim was stopped at Incheon International Airport before departing for Thailand.

At that time, prosecutors sought to reinvestigate allegations that the former vice minister received sexual favors from a local businessman more than a decade ago.

Cha and prosecutor Lee were indicted in April for abuse of power, obstruction of justice, document falsification and others.

The presidential aide became the fourth key suspect who was indicted in the case. The prosecutors are said to have already made the indictment decision against him on May 12 but waited for approval from the Supreme Prosecutors Office.

On the same day, they indicted Lee Sung-yoon, chief of the Seoul High Prosecutors Office, over allegations that he exercised undue influence to block an investigation into officials involved in the exit ban.

The investigators suspected the secretary Lee, in late 2019, asked Cho Kuk, then presidential secretary for civil affairs, to help the prosecutor Lee avoid an investigation.

While the prosecutors did not include that allegation in their indictment Thursday, they said they will review whether to bring further charges against him.

Last month, the disgraced former Vice Minister Kim was freed on bail after the Supreme Court remanded his bribery case for a retrial, calling into question the reliability of testimony used against him.

He was acquitted of receiving escort services from the businessman based on lack of evidence and the expiration of the statutes of limitations.

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk was also grilled for his alleged involvement in the case last month but has not been formally charged.

Source: Yonhap News Agency