Partial Release of 'Jeong Young-hak Recording'... Evidence of Lobbying Targeting 5 Billion Club and Seongnam City Officials Revealed

Major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, Kim Man-bae, and accountant Jeong Young-hak, owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 5 (from left).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist Reporter] On the 19th, part of the 'Jung Young-hak Recording,' known to have played a decisive role in the prosecution's investigation of the Daejang-dong development lobbying and preferential treatment case, was disclosed.

The contents of the recording released through the media include circumstances where Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, lobbied former People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Sang-do and so-called '50 Billion Club' members, as well as public officials presumed to be affiliated with Seongnam City. The conversation also discussed how to distribute the sales profits as lobbying funds, which is expected to cause a stir.

On this day, Hankook Ilbo obtained and reported the recording of conversations between Kim and Jung Young-hak, an accountant and owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 5, a subsidiary of Hwacheon Daeyu, from December 23, 2019, to July 27, 2020.

According to the report, on April 4, 2020, Kim told Jung, "Byung-chae's (Kwak Byung-chae) father (Kwak Sang-do) asks for money. Through Byung-chae," implying that former lawmaker Kwak requested money through his son Byung-chae, who worked at Hwacheon Daeyu.

When Kim asked Byung-chae, "What does your father want?" Byung-chae replied, "What will you do with the money promised to my father?" Kim then said, "How can I give it all at once? Since it would be more than Executive Director Yang, I have to split it into two or three times and give it through you," according to the recording.

In an earlier recording dated March 24, 2020, Kim explained to Jung about the money to be given as a performance bonus, saying, "We have to give 5 billion won to Executive Director Yang." Since he mentioned that the money to be given to former lawmaker Kwak was more than that to Executive Director Yang, an executive at Hwacheon Daeyu, the recording suggests that Kim intended to deliver at least 5 billion won to former lawmaker Kwak.

Regarding the report, former lawmaker Kwak's lawyer stated, "The parts related to former lawmaker Kwak in Kim Man-bae's recording are being clarified through the prosecution's extensive and thorough investigation, and the problems with the recording were confirmed during last year's court warrant review," adding, "We will continue to prove former lawmaker Kwak's innocence."

The disclosed recording also relatively specifically reveals Kim's lobbying circumstances targeting the so-called '50 Billion Club.' Kim is heard mentioning six individuals by name?Choi Jae-kyung, Park Young-soo, Kwak Sang-do, Kim Soo-nam, Hong Seon-geun, and Kwon Soon-il?saying to Jung, "Let's see how many of the 50 there are."

Kim also made remarks indicating that he planned to give 1.5 billion won and 500 million won to two people from the Seongnam City Council, and that he entertained Seongnam City officials by meeting them every night and playing golf with city hall people on weekends.

The recording contains relatively detailed plans Kim discussed with Jung about how to distribute the A12 block sales profits, estimated at about 42 billion won, among the '50 Billion Club' members, Seongnam City Council officials, and relatives of former special prosecutor Park.

Kim also said that he was receiving reports through former lawmaker Kwak's son Byung-chae on whether the lobbying efforts toward public officials were effective, i.e., whether the officials were cooperating with the Daejang-dong project.

The 'Jung Young-hak Recording' remains a hot topic in the Daejang-dong case trial underway at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 (Presiding Judge Yang Cheol-han).

From the preparation stage of the trial, the defendants, including Kim, insisted on the need to copy not only the transcript but also the original recording files. However, the prosecution expressed reluctance, stating that the recording files contained conversations of other people and unrelated content, and that leakage could cause irreparable damage. Nevertheless, the court urged the prosecution to actively cooperate in allowing access and copying of the recordings, considering the substantial volume, and eventually ordered the copying of the original recording files.

The prosecution has presented the recording as key evidence supporting the defendants' charges, but Kim, former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu, lawyer Nam Wook, and lawyer Jung Min-yong, all of whom are on trial together, deny the charges of breach of trust or bribery and claim that the conversations in the 'Jung Young-hak Recording' are not true.

At the hearing held on the 17th, the court also stated that it is difficult to prove the charges or the defendants' innocence solely based on the 'Jung Young-hak Recording.'

The court said, "Considering the charges and various issues, it is difficult to prove the charges or the defendants' innocence solely with the recording or conversations among related parties," emphasizing, "Arguments based on objective evidence are important."

Meanwhile, the prosecution expressed concern about the recording's contents being disclosed through the media on the same day.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stated in a press release to reporters, "In the trial of the Daejang-dong development suspicion case, after the prosecution allowed the defendants to access and copy the evidence records, specific contents of the evidence were reported in the media, raising concerns."

The office added, "If criminal case records, transcripts, or recordings are leaked externally without accurate verification of context and facts, it may interfere with the related trial and ongoing investigation and infringe on the honor and privacy of those involved. For these reasons, the Criminal Procedure Act stipulates criminal penalties for leaking materials accessed or copied by defendants or their lawyers for purposes other than the trial."

They continued, "The prosecution has allowed the defendants to access and copy evidence records according to the law after indictment, and recording files have been provided based on the court's decision. The prosecution will continue to investigate the public suspicions and various issues revealed during the investigation fairly and according to law and principles," they concluded.

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