Lee Jae-myung: "Daejang-dong Project is a People Power Party Gate... I Did Not Receive Even 1 Won"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential pre-candidate and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, is answering questions from reporters after visiting a single mother facility in Nam-gu, Gwangju on the morning of the 18th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential primary candidate and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, recently claimed that the controversy surrounding the Daejang-dong development project in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, which is linked to him, is a "People Power Party gate."

On the afternoon of the 18th, after visiting a facility for single mothers in Nam-gu, Gwangju, Lee told reporters, "The corrupt collusion between construction corruption forces and the People Power Party was hidden underground and has now reappeared in a new form," asserting this claim.

He explained, "After former President Lee Myung-bak stated that the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) should not engage in projects that compete with the private sector, certain businesses strangely secured hundreds of billions of won in funding and purchased land in the Daejang-dong area. Later, Shin Young-soo, a member of the People Power Party's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, pressured LH to abandon the project," he said.

Lee further stated that this incident led him to suspect the project. He said, "At that time, I was convinced there was corrupt collusion and posted about it countless times on social media (SNS) and gave interviews," adding, "It was later revealed that Shin's younger brother, who worked as an aide, received bribes worth hundreds of millions of won and engaged in lobbying."

He particularly noted, "Nine people related to Shin's younger brother were arrested, and eleven were indicted," and explained, "I thought the forces colluding with the Saenuri Party and former President Lee Myung-bak had been dismantled." Lee claims that a new developer was solicited in a way that guaranteed profits to Seongnam City.

Regarding the selection of the Hana Bank consortium, he said, "They were chosen as the consortium offering the most stable profits among the developers," adding, "We could not know who the investors were, they did not disclose it, and there was no need to know."

People Power Party's Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, along with Lee Heon-seung, Chairman of the Daejang-dong Gate Truth Investigation Task Force, and committee members are inspecting the Daejang-dong site in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province on the 16th. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

Lee said, "Recent reports show that half of the shareholders were the group that lobbied the previous government and lobbied through Shin's younger brother," and "Now it appears they are connected to People Power Party figures such as former lawmaker Won Yoo-chul and lawmaker Kwak Sang-do," he criticized. He continued, "The root of the collusion between construction corruption forces and the People Power Party's political corruption forces remained intact and reemerged in a new form as the developer."

Lee asserted, "I can say with certainty that I did not receive a single won," and added, "Moreover, I repeatedly instructed the staff in charge, the Urban Corporation, and related officials that this matter would inevitably be subject to a special investigation later, so they must act without raising any suspicion and ensure thorough fairness during the review process."

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