Prosecutors Plan to Summon Jeong Jin-sang on the 8th as a Link to the Upper Echelons in the 'Daejang-dong Scandal'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution, investigating allegations of preferential treatment and lobbying in the Daejang-dong development project, is reportedly planning to summon Jeong Jin-sang, Deputy Chief of Staff of the election campaign committee, for questioning on the 8th. Attention is focused on whether the investigation will accelerate again toward the 'upper echelons.' Deputy Chief Jeong is considered a close aide to Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate.

According to the legal and political circles on the 6th, the dedicated investigation team of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-hoon) is scheduled to summon Deputy Chief Jeong on Saturday the 8th as a suspect for questioning. However, if Deputy Chief Jeong requests to reschedule the appearance date citing campaign commitments, the investigation may be delayed.

The prosecution plans to investigate whether Deputy Chief Jeong pressured former President Hwang to resign and whether then-Mayor Lee Jae-myung was involved in the resignation.

Deputy Chief Jeong is suspected of being involved in the process where Hwang Mu-seong, the first president of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, did not complete his term and resigned. He also signed approval documents related to the Daejang-dong development project in his capacity as Seongnam City Policy Director. Former President Hwang was appointed as the head of Seongnam Facilities Management Corporation, the predecessor of the corporation, in September 2013 and stepped down as president in March 2015.

After the Daejang-dong allegations investigation intensified, former President Hwang released a February 6, 2015, recording of a conversation with Yoo Han-gi, former head of the corporation's development project division. In the recording, former Director Yoo repeatedly mentioned 'Mayor' and 'Director Jeong' as the upper echelons, urging former President Hwang to resign.

Deputy Chief Jeong was also revealed to have had multiple phone calls with Yoo Dong-gyu, former head of the corporation's planning division and considered a 'key man' in the case, until just before Yoo was subjected to a prosecution raid in late September last year when the Daejang-dong allegations intensified.

The prosecution has been coordinating the summons schedule with Deputy Chief Jeong since last month to verify the involvement of the 'upper echelons' at Seongnam City Hall in the Daejang-dong development project. However, the summons was postponed after Yoo Han-gi, who was arrested on bribery charges, committed suicide before his pretrial detention hearing, and Kim Moon-gi, Development Division 1 Director, who was a witness, also passed away.

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