Prosecutors Arrest 'Daejangdong Key Figures' Kim Man-bae and Nam Wook... Securing Momentum for Upper-Level and Lobby Investigations

Phone Call on the Day of Search and Seizure of Lee Jae-myung's Close Aides Jeong Jin-sang and Yoo Dong-gyu

On the 3rd, Kim Man-bae (left), the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, and Nam Wook, the owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 4 and a lawyer, are attending the warrant hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Reporter Kim Dae-hyun] Kim Man-bae (57), the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu and a key figure in the Daejang-dong development preferential treatment and lobbying allegations case, and Nam Wook (48), the owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 4 and a lawyer, were arrested by the prosecution on the 4th on charges including breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

With the prosecution successfully securing the custody of three individuals, including Yoo Dong-gyu, former head of the Planning Headquarters at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation (52, detained and indicted), among the so-called ‘Daejang-dong Five,’ the investigation into the upper echelons of Seongnam City and lobbying in political circles is expected to accelerate.

The court, which conducted the detention hearings for the two, issued arrest warrants in the early morning, stating that “the criminal charges are substantiated and there is a risk of evidence tampering.”

However, the court dismissed the arrest warrant for lawyer Jeong Min-yong (47, former head of Strategic Business at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation), who was also subject to an arrest warrant request, citing “no risk of flight or evidence tampering.”

It is analyzed that the key factor in the issuance of the arrest warrant for Kim, whose previous arrest warrant had been dismissed once, was the prosecution’s specification of the breach of trust amount as “at least 65.1 billion KRW worth of land development dividend profits” and the discovery through account tracing that 400 million KRW out of the 500 million KRW bribe Kim provided to former head Yoo was delivered in 40 checks of 10 million KRW each.

Before the detention hearing, Kim argued, “That person (Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party presidential candidate) carried out the best administration, and we proceeded with the conspiracy based on his administrative guidelines and the policies presented by the city,” claiming that if Lee’s actions as Seongnam mayor were not breach of trust, then neither was his own. However, this claim was not accepted.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Chosun Ilbo reported that the prosecution and police confirmed that former head Yoo had a phone call with Jeong Jin-sang, deputy chief of the Democratic Party’s election campaign secretariat and a close aide to candidate Lee (former head of Gyeonggi Province Policy Office), before the prosecution’s search and seizure.

In response, Deputy Chief Jeong acknowledged the phone call in a statement, saying, “Given the situation where the transcript was widely reported in the media, and Yoo Dong-gyu’s usual demeanor was very different, I judged it necessary to directly confirm.”

He also stated, “During the call, I urged former head Yoo not to hide any wrongdoing and to fully cooperate with the investigation.”

Furthermore, Deputy Chief Jeong added, “In this grave situation ahead of the presidential election, I strongly warn against the behavior of judicial authorities leaking investigation details about specific individuals unrelated to the crime to some media outlets to tarnish reputations.”

Regarding Deputy Chief Jeong’s statement, the prosecution pointed out, “There were reports in some media that former head Yoo and Deputy Chief Jeong spoke on the day of the search and seizure, and there were misunderstandings or claims implying that the prosecution informed the media.”

They continued, “The prosecution has not disclosed any such information to the media and will continue to do its best to ensure that the investigation process does not infringe on the honor and privacy of the parties involved.”

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