Prosecution Arrests and Indicts Former Seongnam City Council Chairman Choi Yoon-gil for 'Daejang-dong Bribery'... Led Passage of 'Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Establishment Ordinance'

Hwacheondaeyu Major Shareholder Kim Man-bae Additional Indictment for Bribery Charges

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Former Seongnam City Council Chairman Choi Yoon-gil has been brought to trial on charges of promising tens of billions of won in bribes in exchange for helping the Daejang-dong development project operators, including leading the passage of the 'Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Establishment Ordinance' during his tenure.

The Criminal Division 6 of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Byung-moon) announced on the 15th that former Chairman Choi was indicted without detention on charges of bribery after improper conduct (post-bribery) under Article 131, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act.

Post-bribery under Article 131, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act is a crime established when a public official receives, demands, or promises a bribe after committing an improper act in the course of their duties.

The prosecution also indicted Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, without detention on charges of giving bribes to former Chairman Choi in exchange for assistance with the Daejang-dong development project. Kim is currently on trial after being detained and indicted last November on charges of breach of trust under the Specific Economic Crimes Act related to lobbying allegations in the Daejang-dong development case.

According to the prosecution, in March 2012, Choi received a request from Kim to pass the 'Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Establishment Ordinance.' Around February 2013, when Choi was the Seongnam City Council Chairman, he orchestrated protests outside the city council chamber by mobilizing dozens of residents through another case-related person, A, to support the passage of the ordinance.

Furthermore, despite the ordinance being rejected due to insufficient quorum in the electronic vote count while opposing council members had left, Choi allegedly falsely claimed that the voting machine was malfunctioning and conducted a re-vote by a show of hands, violating voting principles such as 'ilsa-bujae-ui' (one matter, one vote), thereby passing the ordinance.

Subsequently, in February 2021, Choi was hired as vice chairman of Hwacheon Daeyu and promised sequential performance bonuses totaling 4 billion won from the completion of the Daejang-dong urban development project, along with an annual salary of 84 million won. He is accused of actually receiving about 80 million won in salary and other payments by November 17 of the same year.

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