Traces of 'Yuhan-gi' Involvement Found Throughout Daejang-dong... Prosecution Unavoidable Summons Investigation

Suspicion of Involvement in 'Non-Prosecution Agreement' Signing Following Private Operator Selection, CEO Resignation Pressure, and Bribery Allegations... Possibility of Suspect Summons

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The prosecution, investigating allegations of preferential treatment and lobbying in the Daejang-dong development, is set to summon Yuhan-gi, former head of the Development Division at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation (Seongnam UDC) and current president of Pocheon Urban Corporation, for questioning. Yuhan-gi is known as the person who pressured Hwang Mu-seong, the first president of Seongnam UDC, to resign, and there is evidence suggesting he received money from private developers during the Daejang-dong development process.

According to legal circles on the 10th, the Daejang-dong Development Allegations Special Investigation Team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-hoon) plans to summon former head Yuhan-gi soon to verify the authenticity of bribery allegations and the resignation pressure recordings involving former president Hwang.

During investigations of major shareholders Kim Man-bae of Hwacheon Daeyu, lawyer Nam Wook, owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 4, and accountant Jeong Young-hak, owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 5, the investigation team secured statements that they handed 200 million won to former head Yuhan-gi under the pretext of lobbying the Hangang River Basin Environmental Office. The team views this fund as a bribe intended to ensure the smooth progress of the environmental impact assessment for the Daejang-dong development project.

Former head Yuhan-gi is already under investigation as the person who pressured former president Hwang to resign. Having completed the analysis of the recordings submitted by former president Hwang, the investigation team needs to directly verify the 'higher-ups' mentioned by Yuhan-gi. In these recordings, Yuhan-gi repeatedly mentions former Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung (current Democratic Party presidential candidate) and his close aide Jeong Jin-sang, former Seongnam City Policy Director (currently Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party's election committee), demanding Hwang submit his resignation.

Moreover, Yuhan-gi has been suspected as a hidden 'key man' since the early stages of the Daejang-dong scandal. Following former Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu, Yuhan-gi, nicknamed 'Yoo Two,' wielded considerable power at Seongnam UDC. He served as the evaluation committee chairman for the absolute evaluation of private developers in the Daejang-dong development and as the subcommittee chairman for the relative evaluation.

According to our investigation, Yuhan-gi was also involved in the process of signing the 'Litigation Waiver Agreement' and 'Non-Prosecution Special Agreement' between Seongnam City and Seongnam Eutteul, the project implementer. At a meeting in August 2016 regarding the separation of the 'Seongnam Daejang-dong and 1st Industrial Complex Combined Urban Development Project' and the creation of a park in the 1st Industrial Complex, Yuhan-gi attended alongside Kim Moon-gi, head of Development Project Division 1, and Jeong Min-yong, head of the Investment Project Team.

Considering that the meeting adopted a Non-Prosecution Special Agreement promising not to file civil or criminal lawsuits instead of a Litigation Waiver Agreement with a lower guarantee nature, and discussed not only park creation project costs but also Daejang-dong development project expenses, the construction industry analyzes that Yuhan-gi was already aware of the private developers' profits from the development.

Legal circles express concern that if the summons of former head Yuhan-gi is delayed further, it could disrupt the overall Daejang-dong investigation. With the investigation team facing operational gaps due to COVID-19 infections, if bribery and higher-up involvement linked to Yuhan-gi are not confirmed, it will be difficult to expand the investigation to other lobbying allegations. Notably, individuals such as independent lawmaker Kwak Sang-do, former special prosecutor Park Young-soo, former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il, and former Seongnam City Council Chairman Choi Yoon-gil?who are known to have had illicit dealings with the four main figures of Daejang-dong?have yet to be investigated.

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