[Exclusive] Suspicion of Seongnam FC Budget Used for Lee Jae-myung's Re-election as Seongnam Mayor

2014 Regular League Changwon Opening Match
Soccer Club Members Supporting Election Campaign
Over 200 People Chartered Buses to Watch the Game
Club Provided Food and Drinks
Employee Who Reported to Bundang District Election Commission
Claims "Retaliatory Personnel Action"
Lee's Side States "Political Intent Malicious Report"

Bus Vehicle Allocation Table for Seongnam FC Supporters Traveling to Changwon for the Away Opening Match of the 2014 Regular League on March 9

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Circumstantial evidence has emerged supporting allegations that Seongnam City used part of the 2014 Seongnam FC budget to support Lee Jae-myung’s re-election campaign when he was the mayor of Seongnam.

According to materials such as the 'Gyeonggi Event Schedule' obtained by Asia Economy on the 14th and various tips, Seongnam FC played its first-ever match since its founding on March 9, 2014, at Changwon Football Center against Gyeongnam FC in the regular league away opener. Seongnam City issued instructions to the club to charter eight 40-seat buses to transport supporters to cheer for the players in Changwon using club funds, and also prepared food such as alcoholic beverages, bossam (boiled pork wraps), and chicken. Each bus was assigned one staff member to support the supporters’ transportation, meals, and other needs.

The majority of the people on the buses were reportedly individuals who helped Lee Jae-myung’s re-election campaign in the local elections held in June that year. More than 200 football enthusiasts who supported Lee’s campaign, including an executive A from the local football association, traveled by bus to Changwon and were provided with food, beverages, and alcohol by the club both on the bus and upon arrival. One employee who sensed something was wrong reported this to the Seongnam Bundang District Election Commission. A source familiar with the situation said, "At that time, the report should have been made to the Central Election Commission, but it was made to Seongnam. The Seongnam Election Commission informed Seongnam City about the report, and the employee was later subjected to retaliatory personnel actions." Another source claimed, "Including the Changwon away support group, Seongnam City spent about 3 billion KRW of Seongnam FC’s funds on activities that benefited themselves."

In response, Lee Jae-myung’s campaign team denied the allegations, stating, "Group tours targeting specific individuals are unfounded. The away buses were provided to meet fans’ demands and to promote support for away games at the time of the club’s founding. We suspect this is a politically motivated slanderous tip."

The suspicions surrounding the Seongnam FC budget do not end there. Compared to other clubs, tens of billions of won more were allocated and spent annually, and the whereabouts of 16 billion KRW in sponsorship funds received from six companies between 2015 and 2017 remain unclear. Seongnam FC experienced financial difficulties in its inaugural year, 2014, and when it was relegated to the second division in the 2017 season, the Seongnam City Council cut the Seongnam FC budget by half. At that time, the council also pointed out that "Seongnam FC has not disclosed the use of sponsorship funds."

2015 Budget Operation Plan - Project Classification Table by Institution

There are also traces of budget inflation through unnecessary project allocations. According to the 2015 budget operation plan obtained exclusively by this outlet, Seongnam FC was allocated about 188 million KRW for projects somewhat unrelated to club operations or projects that should have been supported by Seongnam City, and spent the funds accordingly.

The Seongnam FC sponsorship fund suspicion case is currently under reinvestigation by the Bundang Police Station, which took over the case from the Seongnam District Prosecutor’s Office, focusing on securing the expenditure details of Seongnam FC’s corporate card. Former Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Ha-young, who was investigating the case, noted that the amount charged to Seongnam FC’s corporate card over several years reached tens of billions of won and coincided with the period when corporate sponsorship funds were concentrated. He reported to his superior, Chief Prosecutor Park Eun-jung of the Seongnam District Prosecutor’s Office, that "further account tracing is necessary." When Chief Prosecutor Park did not accept this, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park submitted his resignation and retired.

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