United Future Party, First Step of Lee Sang-jik and Eastar Fact-Finding TF... "Will Uncover Power-Type Gate"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] On the 3rd, the United Future Party held the first meeting of the ‘Investigation Task Force on Allegations of Corruption Involving Assemblyman Lee Sang-jik and Eastar Air’ and began probing the suspicions surrounding the case.

Joo Ho-young, the floor leader, stated at the special committee meeting held at the National Assembly that day, “The suspicions surrounding Assemblyman Lee Sang-jik of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is a former chairman of Eastar Air, and his family are snowballing,” adding, “We will thoroughly investigate various allegations of preferential treatment and power-related scandals.”

He pointed out, “Eastar Holdings had a capital of only 30 million KRW at the time of its establishment, but it purchased 5.24 million shares of Eastar Air with capital of unknown origin and reportedly made a profit of 40 billion KRW from the sale,” adding, “This means a return of more than 1,300 times in less than five years.”

He continued, “Eastar Holdings, with a capital of only 30 million KRW, borrowed 8 billion KRW from a private equity fund, but this process is completely incomprehensible,” and added, “This is an enormous privilege that ordinary people could never dream of, and coincidentally, Assemblyman Lee was a member of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee at the time.”

Floor leader Joo said, “Assemblyman Lee has not even provided a proper explanation regarding the various allegations surrounding him,” and stated, “There have also been various allegations of preferential treatment in the process of President Moon Jae-in’s son-in-law being employed at Eastar Air’s Thai subsidiary.”

Lee Jong-bae, chairman of the Policy Committee, said, “Since this is a case involving a ruling party lawmaker, there is suspicion that it might be quietly buried like the Justice Foundation incident,” emphasizing, “It must be clearly revealed to the public how Lee Sang-jik’s kingdom neglected Eastar Air’s bankruptcy and whether there was any intervention by power.”

Gwak Sang-do, the TF chairman, said, “Assemblyman Lee must clearly explain the charges of breach of trust and embezzlement in the process of acquiring Eastar Air shares, violations of the Capital Markets Act, and illicit transfers to his children,” adding, “Eastar Air has been in a state of capital erosion since 2007, yet it has never received a management improvement order from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT). There are suspicions that the MOLIT mafia, including Assemblyman Lee, Minister Kim Hyun-mi of MOLIT, and Koo Bon-hwan, president of Incheon International Airport Corporation and former director of the Aviation Policy Office, overlooked Eastar Air’s capital erosion situation, and this must be thoroughly investigated.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.