"‘Asking if Yudonggyu is a close aide is meaningless’... Kim Eo-jun steps up to defend Lee Jae-myung"

Kim Eo-jun "No Evidence of Lee Jae-myung Receiving Money... The Core Issue is the Bribery by the Person Involved"

Broadcaster Kim Eo-jun. Photo by TBS Radio, screenshot from 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Broadcaster Kim Eo-jun commented on the relationship between Yoo Dong-gyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation who was arrested over allegations of 'Daejang-dong development preferential treatment,' and Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, saying, "Asking whether former Director Yoo is a close aide of Governor Lee is a meaningless question."

On the 5th, Kim said on his TBS radio show 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory,' which he hosts, "Asking if he is a close aide means that the money the person received has not yet surfaced."

He added, "The responsibility for managing the wrongdoing of a subordinate lies with (Governor Lee)," but also said, "However, to flood the media with so many articles just to ask about management responsibility is not the point. The bribe to the person involved is the core issue."

Kim also stated, "To ask whether Seongnam City deliberately caused losses by giving preferential treatment to the private sector when it could have gained more profit, you need to ask a few things first," and continued, "First, was public development possible but deliberately not done? No. At that time, then-Mayor Lee Jae-myung wanted public development, but the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations blocked local bond issuance, and Seongnam's Saenuri Party city council members opposed it, causing it to fail."

He went on to question, "Is there a precedent for a better private development model than the Daejang-dong public-private joint development model, one that would justify asking 'Why wasn't it done this way?' Is there a public-private joint model that generated more recovery profit than Seongnam City's Daejang-dong model?" and emphasized, "There isn't. This is the first model to generate confirmed recovery profits of this scale in this way."

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential primary candidate, is preparing for a debate at the Democratic Party presidential candidate debate held at OBS in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, on the afternoon of the 5th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, regarding the arrest of former Director Yoo, Governor Lee expressed regret at a Seoul policy announcement event on the 4th, saying, "I deeply regret that an employee under my command, responsible for the affairs I oversee, was involved in an unfortunate incident," and added, "I have looked into it thoroughly, but it was still insufficient."

Governor Lee also bowed his head and said about the Daejang-dong development, "I did my utmost to prevent the private sector from monopolizing development profits, but it was insufficient," and "Due to institutional limitations and obstruction by the People Power Party, we could not fully recover the development profits, and as a politician, I express my deep regret for causing disappointment to the people."

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