Allegations of Overseas Leisure Trips by Lee Jae-myung's Close Aides... "A Typical Tax Thief"

Former Policy Secretary Jeong Jin-sang and Others Accompanied 2015 Seongnam FC Away Game
"Approximately 15.5 Million KRW for Airfare and Accommodation Paid with Seongnam FC Funds"
"If After the Implementation of the Anti-Graft Act, It Would Have Resulted in Imprisonment or Fines"

Park Soo-young, a member of the People Power Party, is questioning at the National Assembly's audit on the Financial Services Commission held by the Political Affairs Committee on October 6 last year. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Hyun-ji] Allegations have been raised that a close aide of Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, took an overseas trip funded by the Seongnam city budget during Lee’s tenure as mayor of Seongnam.

According to Park Soo-young, a member of the People Power Party, when Lee, then mayor of Seongnam, visited Thailand in February 2015 to attend an away game of Seongnam FC, close aides including Jeong Jin-sang, former Seongnam city policy secretary, Kim Jin-wook, former Seongnam city secretary, and Bae Gong-man, former Seongnam city conflict mediator, accompanied him. Based on an internal Seongnam city hall document from that time, Park stated, “Jeong Jin-sang went on a business trip to Thailand from February 22 to 26, 2015, for 4 nights and 5 days, while Kim Jin-wook and Bae Gong-man went from February 23 to 26 for 3 nights and 4 days,” adding, “The airfare and accommodation expenses for the three close aides and Seongnam city employees, totaling about 15.5 million KRW, were fully paid from Seongnam FC funds.”

Park also viewed this as a leisure overseas trip. Since Seongnam FC is a citizen club receiving operational subsidies from Seongnam city hall, traveling on the club’s budget constitutes illegal use of public funds for private purposes. Park argued, “(The leisure overseas trip by Lee Jae-myung’s close aides) can be punished under criminal law as bribery and is a direct violation of Article 7 (Prohibition of Use of Budget for Other Purposes) and Article 14 (Prohibition of Acceptance of Money or Gifts) of the Public Officials’ Code of Conduct,” adding, “If this had occurred after the implementation of the Anti-Graft Act, it would have been punishable by up to three years imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million KRW.”

Park emphasized that the ‘three close aides’ are currently closely connected to Lee’s presidential campaign. He said, “Jeong, the former policy secretary, served as the head of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Policy Office and is currently the deputy chief of staff at Lee’s presidential campaign office. Kim, the former secretary, has been accompanying Lee since 2014 and is also known to have joined the presidential campaign.” Regarding Bae, the former conflict mediator, Park mentioned that after Lee took office as governor of Gyeonggi Province, Bae was promoted to head of the management division at Gyeonggi Province Corporation. Gyeonggi Province Corporation operates ‘Baedal Teukgeup,’ a public delivery app developed during Lee’s tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province.

Park further criticized, “In the 27-year history of elected local government heads, no governor has ever wasted taxpayers’ money in this manner,” echoing the outcry of retired Gyeonggi Provincial Government officials, and stated that Lee Jae-myung is becoming a typical example of a tax thief.

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