The 'Keyman' Nam Wook Revealed in the Daejang-dong Scandal... Questions Remain

People Power Party Floor Leader Kim Ki-hyun is speaking at the 'People Power Party Daejang-dong Gate Special Prosecutor Promotion Tent Struggle Headquarters Meeting' held on the stairs in front of the main building of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 12th.

Nam Wook, a key figure in the Daejang-dong development lobbying and preferential treatment allegations case, spoke out for the first time about the related suspicions, but questions about his explanations remain.

According to the legal community and Seongnam City Council on the 13th, Nam stated in an interview with JTBC the previous day that he only learned through recent news reports that the business agreement between the Seongnam-e Tteul consortium, which included Hwacheon Daeyu around 2015, and the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation lacked a clause on excess profit recovery. Regarding the Daejang-dong project structure, he said, "I understand that Yoo Dong-gyu, the former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, was the decision-maker," and added, "I understand that Director Yoo ultimately decided on this project."

This explanation contradicts Nam's actions revealed through previous media reports. The overall planning of the Daejang-dong development project, including drafting the public offering guidelines, was carried out by the Strategic Business Office of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, whose key personnel included lawyer Jeong. Lawyer Jeong led the drafting of the public offering guidelines that omitted the excess profit recovery clause and also participated as a judge during the selection of the project operator. He is a senior and junior colleague of Nam from university, and his employment as a professional contract worker at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation in November 2014 was made upon Nam's recommendation. There are suspicions that he intentionally joined the corporation to act as a special unit for the 'Daejang-dong jackpot.'

Although Lawyer Jeong claimed he never had private contact with Nam after joining, it was revealed through media reports that they had conversations together in a social networking service (SNS) group messenger in May last year. It is reported that in this chatroom, there were circumstances where Nam gave work-related instructions to Jeong. A Seongnam City Council official said, "It is difficult to understand Nam, who participated in the Daejang-dong development since 2009, explaining that he only learned about the excess profit recovery clause through recent media reports."

Nam's claim that "after being released from detention in 2015, Kim Man-bae was not allowed near Daejang-dong" also raises questions. Cheonhwa Dongin No. 4, which he is the actual owner of, was established in 2015, and according to the corporate registry, Kim's younger brother, Kim, was registered as an inside director of this company. He was reappointed as director in June 2018 and only resigned in February 2019.

Nam is reportedly preparing for the prosecution's investigation by hiring lawyers from major domestic law firms. He said, "Once my family's personal matters are settled, I will return soon and respond to the investigation in detail." Meanwhile, on the same day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had ordered Nam to surrender his passport and restricted the issuance of a new passport in accordance with passport law regulations, and notified the prosecution of this result.

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