Broker Who Pocketed Hundreds of Millions in 'Gwangju Collapse Disaster' Arrested... "Received Bribes and Intervened in Demolition Company Selection"

On the morning of the 21st, Lee Mo (73), a broker involved in the demolition building collapse disaster at Hakdong 4 District Housing Redevelopment Project in Dong-gu, Gwangju, is coming out after a warrant hearing on charges including professional negligence resulting in death and injury at the Gwangju District Court.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Broker Lee Mo (73), who intervened in the selection of demolition companies after the collapse disaster of a demolished building in Gwangju in exchange for receiving large sums of money, appeared at the Gwangju District Court on the 21st for a pre-arrest warrant hearing.

Broker Lee Mo (73), who intervened in the selection of demolition companies for the Hakdong 4 District in Gwangju, remained silent in response to reporters' questions such as "Did you receive money and hand it over to the redevelopment association?", "What is your relationship with Moon Heung-sik?", and "Why did you give the money?".

Lee is suspected of receiving and dividing large sums of money from officials of three demolition companies and one maintenance infrastructure company between 2017 and 2019, in exchange for signing contracts with the association four to five times. It was also revealed that he has a close relationship with his junior Moon Heung-sik (61, former 5·18 Detained and Injured Association president).

Lee and Moon reportedly proposed to use their connections with the association head to secure contracts for construction projects ordered by the association. It was found that Lee acted alone in selecting the maintenance infrastructure construction company, and he is known to have admitted his charges during the police investigation.

Moon, who is facing the same charges, fled to the United States on the 13th of last month, just before being booked for violating the Attorney-at-law Act following the collapse disaster, and has not returned. It is known that Moon and Lee were active together in a violent organization operating around the business district for some time.

The police said, "Since this is not a matter that can be resolved by fleeing abroad, we hope he returns as soon as possible."

On the 9th of last month, a building under demolition in Hakdong, Dong-gu, Gwangju collapsed, and debris from the building spilled onto the road, burying city buses and other vehicles. The photo shows 119 rescue workers conducting rescue operations at the accident site. Photo by Yonhap News

The police are expanding their investigation, believing that there are more companies that were directly or indirectly involved with brokers in the process of signing contracts with the association.

Earlier, on the 9th of last month at around 4:22 p.m., a five-story building under demolition in the Hakdong redevelopment area in Dong-gu, Gwangju, collapsed and crushed a city bus that was stopped, killing nine passengers on the bus and seriously injuring eight. The police have currently identified 45 people as subjects of investigation related to this collapse disaster, of whom 23 have been booked and 4 have been detained.

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