Lee Jae-myung Expresses Regret Over Daejang-dong Allegations... "Responsibility for Management Lies with Me, I Examined but It Was Insufficient"

"Regrettable but Praiseworthy, Not an Apology"
Opposition: "If KEPCO Employees Take Bribes, Should the President Resign?"

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential primary candidate and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, is announcing policy pledges for the Seoul area on the morning of the 4th at the Community House Masil in Jung-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, expressed deep regret regarding the arrest of Yoo Dong-gyu, the former head of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation and a key figure in the 'Daejang-dong Development Project scandal.' Lee said, "I am very sorry that an employee who was under my command and responsible for the affairs I oversaw was involved in an unfortunate incident." This is the first time Lee has acknowledged management responsibility and expressed regret over the Daejang-dong scandal.

On the 4th, during an online broadcast of the 'Seoul Pledge' announcement, Lee stated, "The responsibility for managing Seongnam city officials and employees of affiliated organizations rightly lies with me as the mayor at the time. I monitored and scrutinized the situation repeatedly, but it was still insufficient."

Regarding the Daejang-dong development scandal, Lee said, "I did my utmost to prevent the private sector from monopolizing development profits, but it was not enough," and bowed his head, expressing, "As a politician, I deeply regret causing disappointment to the public by failing to fully recover development profits due to institutional limitations and obstruction by the People Power Party."

However, his existing stance remained unchanged?that although the private sector ultimately gained excessive profits from the Daejang-dong project, the essence was securing public interest from the entrenched construction and development vested interests. Before the pledge announcement, he also spent over 30 minutes introducing his history of fighting against these vested interests.

When asked, "With former head Yoo arrested and allegations of preferential treatment related to the Daejang-dong development, is there nothing to apologize for?" Lee responded, "It was not about granting preferential treatment but resolving it. While I share the regret, I believe this is not something I should apologize for but rather be praised for."

He also criticized the People Power Party, saying, "Absurd claims are coming from the People Power Party, such as Nobel, who invented gunpowder, designing the 9/11 terror attack," and added, "They are making baseless accusations that I designed the enormous distribution of development profits to private contractors."

Regarding the allegations surrounding former head Yoo, Lee referred to it as the 'Hwacheon Daeyu bribery case,' stating, "From the Seongnam mayor to now, I have always emphasized a 'corruption hell, integrity heaven' and 'corruption means death, integrity means eternal life' approach to public service," and said, "So far, no corruption has been revealed under my command of Seongnam city officials." He added, "The truth will be revealed as we observe the prosecution's investigation."

In response to opposition parties' calls for his resignation, Lee dismissed them, saying, "If I resign over the personal misconduct of a subordinate, then all heads of organizations in Korea should resign," and asked, "If a KEPCO employee takes bribes, should the president resign?" He instead referred to the Busan LCT case, stating, "If that is investigated, it will be earth-shattering," and countered, "If I gain authority, I plan to reinvestigate and send everyone involved to prison."

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