'Daechang-dong Trio' Jeong Min-yong Appears for Warrant Hearing... Apologizes to Reporters

Attorney Jeong Min-yong, involved in the Daejang-dong development preferential treatment allegations, 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] Jeong Min-yong, a former head of strategic projects at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation (Seongnam UDC) and one of the so-called ‘Daejang-dong Trio,’ appeared at the court to undergo a pre-trial detention hearing (warrant review). When asked by reporters, he only said "I'm sorry" and did not respond further. The prosecution believes he led the drafting of the development project bidding guidelines while serving as the head of strategic projects at Seongnam UDC.

Jeong arrived at the Seoul Central District Court building around 3:30 p.m. on the 3rd. When reporters asked whether he admitted to the charges, he entered the courtroom without any response. He also remained silent when questioned about allegations that he ignored the team leader’s suggestion to include a ‘clawback clause on excess profits’ in the development project bidding guidelines, and why he received 3.5 billion KRW from lawyer Nam Wook, the owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 4.

On this day, Jeong appeared in court third, following Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management (Hwacheon Daeyu), and lawyer Nam. Judge Moon Seong-gwan, who is in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, will conduct Jeong’s hearing after concluding Nam’s detention hearing, which started at 3 p.m. Kim’s detention hearing was held from 10:30 a.m. at the same court before Judge Seo Bo-min and ended after about three and a half hours.

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 later that night or early on the 4th after reviewing the case files.

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 UDC director Yoo Dong-gyu, who was already arrested on bribery charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, on charges of breach of trust and bribery after the fact under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. The prosecution then requested pre-trial detention warrants for Kim, lawyer Nam, and Jeong, applying accomplice charges. The prosecution’s view is that they conspired to rig the selection process so that Hwacheon Daeyu was chosen for the Daejang-dong public-private joint development project, funneling approximately 65.1 billion KRW in land development dividends and implementation profits to the private sector, thereby causing losses to the corporation.

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