Kim Man-bae's Second Warrant Hearing Ends... "Jung Young-hak Built Trust and Attacked with Prosecution"

Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu involved in the Daejang-dong scandal, is attending the warrant hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 3rd. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management (Hwacheon Daeyu), said that he actively defended himself regarding the contents revealed to the prosecution by accountant Jeong Young-hak (owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 5) as he came out after his second detention pre-trial hearing.

At around 2:02 p.m. on the 3rd, Kim finished his detention pre-trial hearing, which started at 10:30 a.m. that day under the presiding judge Seo Bo-min at the Seoul Central District Court, after about 3 hours and 30 minutes, and told reporters, "Jeong Young-hak designed and built a fortress, and Mr. Jeong and the prosecution are attacking it, so I am in a position where I have to defend it. That part is very embarrassing."

Regarding the newly applied (charges) by the prosecution, Kim said, "I think I have sufficiently explained." When asked which parts of the recorded statements submitted by accountant Jeong to the prosecution he thought were inaccurate, he replied, "Many parts that I do not know well were presented," and added, "So I will explain them fully during the future investigation or trial process." He also said that the recordings were not played separately in court.

Kim underwent his second detention hearing about 20 days after the detention warrant requested by the prosecution on charges including bribery, breach of trust, and embezzlement under the Specific Economic Crimes Act was dismissed by the court on the 14th of last month.

On the 1st, the dedicated investigation team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-hoon) additionally indicted former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation (Seongnam UDC) director Yoo Dong-gyu, who was already detained on bribery charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, on charges of breach of trust and bribery after improper conduct under the Specific Economic Crimes Act. They also requested pre-trial detention warrants for Kim, lawyer Nam Wook, owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 4, and lawyer Jeong Min-yong, former head of Seongnam UDC’s Strategic Business Office, applying accomplice charges. The prosecution's view is that these individuals conspired to manipulate the selection of Hwacheon Daeyu for the Daejang-dong public-private joint development project and caused damage to the corporation by diverting land development dividends and implementation profits amounting to about 65.1 billion KRW to the private sector.

Meanwhile, at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on the same day, Judge Moon Seong-gwan, in charge of detention warrants, will conduct detention hearings for lawyer Nam and lawyer Jeong. After the hearings, they will each be transferred to Seoul Detention Center to await the decision on whether the warrants will be issued. The court is expected to decide on detention either that night or early morning on the 4th after reviewing the records.

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