Prosecutors Find No Charges Against Lee Jae-myung and Jeong Jin-sang in 'Hwang Mu-seong Resignation Coercion Allegation'... No Investigation of Lee Conducted (Comprehensive)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution investigating allegations of preferential treatment and lobbying in the Daejang-dong development project has dismissed charges against Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, and Jeong Jin-sang, deputy chief of the campaign secretariat, who were accused of coercing Hwang Mu-seong, the first president of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, to resign.

According to the legal community on the 3rd, the dedicated investigation team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-hoon) decided on the same day to dismiss the charges against candidate Lee and Deputy Chief Jeong, effectively concluding the investigation.

The prosecution also dismissed charges against Yoo Dong-gyu, former head of planning at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, unidentified individuals related to Hwacheon Daeyu, and ruled that there is no prosecutorial jurisdiction over the late Yoo Han-gi, former head of the development project division at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation.

Candidate Lee and Deputy Chief Jeong were accused of coercing former head Yoo Han-gi to pressure former president Hwang to resign (abuse of authority and obstruction of exercise of rights) and forging the Daejang-dong development project bidding guidelines (forgery of official documents, etc.).

The statute of limitations for abuse of authority charges is seven years and was set to expire on the 6th of this month, but a civic group filed a re-investigation request, temporarily suspending the statute of limitations. However, based on the Criminal Procedure Act and related regulations, a conclusion had to be reached before the 12th.

In this context, after reviewing testimonies from those involved, recorded conversations between former president Hwang and former head Yoo, resignation letters, and related official documents, the prosecution found no evidence to suggest that former head Yoo conspired with candidate Lee and Deputy Chief Jeong to coerce former president Hwang into resigning or abused authority.

The resignation letter submitted by former president Hwang was determined to have been written and delivered by himself, and there was no evidence to prove that the Daejang-dong development project bidding guidelines were forged, considering the approval process.

However, the prosecution only interrogated Deputy Chief Jeong, considered a close aide to candidate Lee, once on the 13th of last month, and did not conduct any face-to-face or written investigation of candidate Lee.

The prosecution dismissed the abuse of authority and obstruction of exercise of rights charges against candidate Lee and Deputy Chief Jeong, filed by the civic group, in accordance with relevant laws, and transferred the case records to the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office for submission to the court.

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