[Exclusive] Suspected Use of Seongnam FC Budget for Lee Seongnam Mayor's Reelection... Lee's Side Claims "Political Intent and Defamatory Report" (Comprehensive)

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 Says "All Allegations Are Groundless"

Bus 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] Allegations have been raised that Seongnam City used part of the 2014 Seongnam FC budget for the re-election campaign of then-Mayor Lee Jae-myung.

According to the 'Gyeonggi Event Schedule' and other materials obtained by Asia Economy on the 14th, as well as whistleblower reports, Seongnam FC played its first regular league away opening match against Gyeongnam FC on March 9, 2014, at Changwon Football Center. It was the first match since Seongnam FC was founded. 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. One staff member was assigned to each bus to support the movement and meals of the cheering personnel.

The majority of the people on the buses were reportedly individuals who helped with the election campaign of then-Mayor Lee Jae-myung, who was running for re-election in the local elections that June. More than 200 football enthusiasts who supported Lee’s campaign, along with a local football association executive, Mr. A, traveled by bus to Changwon and received food, beverages, and alcohol from the club both on the bus and upon arrival. One employee who sensed a problem reported this to the Seongnam Bundang District Election Commission.

An insider familiar with the situation at the time said, "They should have reported it to the Central Election Commission because they didn’t know well back then, but they reported it to Seongnam," adding, "The Seongnam Election Commission informed Seongnam City of the report, and the employee was later subjected to retaliatory personnel actions." Another source claimed, "Including the Changwon away support group, Seongnam City used about 3 billion KRW of Seongnam FC’s funds for activities that benefited themselves."

In response, Lee Jae-myung’s campaign team denied the allegations, stating, "The claim that group tours were targeted at specific individuals is groundless," and added, "The away buses were provided to meet fans’ demands and to promote support for away games at the time of the club’s founding, and we suspect this is a politically motivated slanderous report."

They further emphasized, "Local professional clubs such as citizen clubs and corporate clubs conduct various events as part of fan marketing," and "Those who are said to have 'helped with election campaigns' participated in the citizen club’s away game fan marketing as local residents, including Seongnam FC supporters."

Regarding the election commission report, they said, "Reports of election law violations can be made to both the Central Election Commission and local election commissions," and criticized the claim that "the Seongnam Election Commission and Seongnam City colluded," stating, "The Seongnam Election Commission is an independent regional branch of a central government agency, not a subordinate organization of Seongnam City, so this is an unreasonable claim."

Regarding the suspicion of embezzling 3 billion KRW in budget, they stressed, "The annual budget of the citizen club Seongnam FC is around 5 billion KRW," and added, "Since Seongnam City, not a corporation, is the operating entity, it is unreasonable to say that 3 billion KRW was used for private gain in a tight budget situation."

2015 Budget Operation Plan - Project Classification Table by Institution

The suspicions surrounding the Seongnam FC budget do not end there. Compared to other clubs, a large budget was allocated and spent every year, 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 October 2014, its founding year, and when it was relegated to the second division in the 2017 season, the Seongnam City Council cut the Seongnam FC budget in half. At that time, the council also pointed out that "Seongnam FC has not disclosed the use of sponsorship funds."

There are also traces of inflating the club’s budget by assigning unnecessary projects. 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. Lee’s campaign team responded, "There is no significant difference from other citizen clubs’ regional coexistence activities such as neighborly love, support for multicultural families, low-income groups, and the disabled, yet it is problematic to conclude that these are unrelated to club operations or projects that the city should support."

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 details of Seongnam FC’s corporate card expenditures. Former Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Ha-young, who was investigating the case, noted that the amount paid by Seongnam FC’s corporate card over several years reached tens of billions of KRW and coincided with the period when corporate sponsorship funds were concentrated. He reported to his superior, Seongnam District Chief Prosecutor Park Eun-jung, that "further account tracing is necessary." When Chief Prosecutor Park rejected this, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park submitted his resignation and retired.

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