Lee Jae-myung "Police Still Politically Involved... Will Hold Strict Accountability"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, who was accused of accepting bribes in the form of sponsorship funds related to attracting club advertising expenses and sponsorships to reduce city budget as the owner of 'Seongnam FC' during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam, recently revealed that he received a summons from the police, which was reported by the media, stating, "The police are still interfering in politics," and vowed to "hold them strictly accountable."

On the 3rd, through a Facebook post titled "The police still interfering in politics, I will hold them strictly accountable," Lee said, "Since there is no obligation to comply with a summons investigation rather than a forced investigation, I informed them that I would respond to a written investigation. However, suddenly, along with the summons notice, the allegation that I received advertising revenue as bribery was fabricated and reported by a specific broadcasting station, making it known to the entire nation. As a result, I am being suspected as a corrupt wrongdoer and suffering political damage," criticizing the police's behavior.

Earlier, on the 2nd, some media outlets reported that the Bundang Police Station in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, requested Lee Jae-myung to appear in connection with allegations of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

This case concerns the approximately 16 billion won Lee attracted from major local corporations in the name of club advertising expenses and sponsorship funds when he was the owner of Seongnam FC (Mayor of Seongnam) in 2015. In June 2018, during the local elections, the Bareunmirae Party accused Lee of receiving bribes from companies in exchange for various permits and conveniences and filed a complaint.

Lee stated, "To be clear, I have not committed any wrongdoing or corruption except for recovering some excessive benefits back to Seongnam City during the administrative and corporate attraction process for the local economy," and added, "Previous mayors abandoned corporate attraction for decades, leaving unfinished and abandoned buildings, fearing allegations of preferential treatment, but I succeeded in attracting companies while recovering part of the benefits for Seongnam City."

He further pointed out, "Rather than praising Seongnam City's efforts to revitalize the local economy and attract companies, or the club's efforts to increase advertising revenue to reduce Seongnam City's budget burden, repeatedly summoning me for investigations, conducting searches, and tracing accounts over several years is obstructing my work."

Lee said, "During my time as a human rights lawyer, civic activist, mayor, and governor, I have been subjected to dozens of politically motivated false accusations and summons by the police, but except for cases where I was at fault, I have never complied with summons," and added, "The police must be aware that being summoned during the sensitive presidential election period provides an opportunity for political attacks."

Moreover, he stated, "I can only conclude that the police leaked information to the media to influence the election and inflate suspicions," emphasizing, "I will strictly hold accountable the outdated practices of some police officers who disclose suspect facts, abuse authority, and interfere in politics to ensure they never happen again."

Earlier this year in April, at a business agreement ceremony supporting five citizen professional soccer clubs in the province with 2.5 billion won, Lee criticized the political circles that filed complaints, saying, "When I was the owner of Seongnam FC as mayor of Seongnam, I received a lot of sponsor advertisements from local companies, and I have been under investigation as a suspect for bribery for several years."

He added, "After the complaint, all corporate sponsorship contracts with citizen clubs were cut off," and said, "It is truly regrettable. Politics should not help but instead use this as a subject of political disputes, harming the lives of the people."

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