"New Developments Emerge Again"... Final Negative Campaigning Between Ruling and Opposition Parties Until the Last Moment

Ruling Party: "Yoon's Sambutogeon, from Joshiyeon who calls him brother"
Opposition: "Lee's Daejangdong, Obtained Documents from Practical Manager"

Yoon Ho-jung, Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (left), Won Hee-ryong, Policy Director of the People Power Party Election Countermeasures Headquarters (right)

[Asia Economy Reporters Junyi Park, Hyunji Kwon] With about 10 days left until the presidential election, the ruling and opposition parties are raising additional suspicions, intensifying the chaotic atmosphere in the final stages of the campaign. The ruling party is accusing Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party’s presidential candidate, of the ‘Sambutogeon’ scandal, while the opposition party is launching a direct attack by presenting evidence and circumstances related to Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, and the ‘Daejang-dong development profit favoritism’ allegations.

On the 25th, Yoon Ho-jung, the Democratic Party floor leader, raised suspicions during the party’s Central Election Committee open meeting, stating, "At the end of the suspicious land and money flow is special prosecutor Yoon Seok-yeol," alleging that Yoon, during his time as a prosecutor, conducted a ‘lenient investigation’ into the construction company Sambutogeon.

Yoon said, "The suspicion that Sambutogeon’s corruption was overlooked came from Jo Si-yeon, who is known to be close to candidate Yoon," referring to related reports. He added, "Sambutogeon was investigated by the prosecution in 2005 and 2013, but once was not indicted and once was indicted without detention, receiving a slap-on-the-wrist treatment," and criticized, "A construction businessman and a sponsor prosecutor?this feels like watching the real-life version of the movie ‘Unfair Trade’." He further stated, "To them, candidate Yoon is not a prosecutor but a magician who makes corruption disappear."

He also expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of progress in the investigation into the stock price manipulation case involving Yoon’s spouse, Kim Gun-hee. Yoon said, "Kim was involved in manipulating Deutsche Motors’ stock price, gaining at least 900 million won in unfair profits, and there are indications of involvement in other stock manipulations," adding, "Her mother-in-law is also involved in illegal loans and development corruption, so it is questionable whether such a candidate can talk about modernizing the real estate market and fairness."

On the same day, the People Power Party raised additional suspicions regarding the Daejang-dong case. Won Hee-ryong, head of the policy headquarters of the People Power Party’s election committee, held a press conference at the central party office in Yeouido and stated, "We have obtained and are analyzing a bundle of Daejang-dong documents from Jeong Min-yong, the former planning team leader who was the key person responsible for the Daejang-dong development." He explained that the materials included Jeong’s business cards, receipts, and reports, approval documents, documents personally approved by candidate Lee (then mayor of Seongnam), and handwritten notes related to the Daejang-dong development project from 2014 to 2018. Won said the documents were obtained through an anonymous whistleblower from a drainage ditch next to the highway. This is evidence supporting the Daejang-dong suspicions previously raised by the People Power Party.

Won analyzed the report indicating that Jeong received approval from candidate Lee and claimed that about 2,700 households involved in the Daejang-dong project were given floor area ratio (FAR) benefits. He explained, "They separated the project from the combined development project and labeled it as the Daejang-dong apartment project, concentrating all the FAR benefits on the Daejang-dong apartments," adding, "Normally, the entire project should be canceled and the FAR should be recalculated, but candidate Lee went beyond a loophole and made an illegal approval." He claimed, "Because of this, 2,700 apartments priced at 500 million won each received additional FAR, resulting in sales of 1.35 trillion won," and "Hwacheon Daeyu became a money-making machine due to this approval."

He also revealed that he obtained information that candidate Lee decided to use the 182.2 billion won dividend profit obtained from the Daejang-dong public development as cash rather than for rental apartments. Won said, "At that time, the mayor of Seongnam gave up on rental apartments and received 182.2 billion won in cash that could be used at his discretion, intending to distribute it as a citizen dividend ahead of the 2018 election."

Additionally, he refuted candidate Lee’s claim of having recovered 276.1 billion won. He pointed out, "Candidate Lee promoted that he recovered 276.1 billion won through the 1st Industrial Complex park project during the 2018 election, but 42.1 billion won is missing," criticizing, "He is making baseless claims with numbers only he knows."

Regarding the ongoing truth dispute ahead of the election, Professor Choi Chang-ryeol of Yongin University analyzed, "The election structure itself is progressing in a direction where negativity intensifies, and the level is gradually rising," adding, "Since the competition is not focused on special pledges, voters are likely to feel fatigued."

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