First Trial of 'Daejang-dong' After Presidential Election... Will the Trial and Investigation Speed Up Truth Verification?

From the left, Yoo Dong-gyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, Kim Man-bae, major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management (Hwacheon Daeyu), and Nam Wook, lawyer and owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 4, a subsidiary of Hwacheon Daeyu
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The trial regarding the 'Seongnam City Daejang-dong Development Favoritism and Lobbying Allegations' case was held for the first time after the 20th presidential election.

At 10 a.m. on the 11th, the Criminal Division 22 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Lee Jun-cheol) conducted a continuation trial for five individuals for the first time since the presidential election: former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation (Seongnam UDC) Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu, Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management (Hwacheon Daeyu) major shareholder Kim Man-bae, lawyer Nam Wook, accountant Jung Young-hak, and lawyer Jung Min-yong.

On this day, accountant Kim Min-geol, who was involved in drafting the public offering guidelines for the Daejang-dong development project, appeared as a witness. He worked as the head of the Strategic Business Office under former Director Yoo in 2015 during the project.

The prosecutor is expected to question accountant Kim about the omission of the private developer's excess profit recovery plan in the public offering guidelines. The prosecution's view is that due to the exclusion of the recovery plan, Hwacheon Daeyu affiliates gained enormous profits while Seongnam UDC suffered corresponding losses. Following the previous trial, after the testimony of Team Leader Lee from Seongnam UDC concludes, accountant Kim's examination will begin.

Lawyer Jung's defense counsel presented Team Leader Lee with the minutes of the National Assembly's Administrative Committee hearing and asked, "It is confirmed that there was a directive stating, '(Former Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung) said that if a construction company enters third, it could cause problems, so exclude construction companies and ensure the public offering is centered on large financial institutions.' Wasn't this clause consistent with Seongnam City's guidelines related to the Daejang-dong development?" Team Leader Lee replied, "Since it is a local public corporation, I think the local government mayor's opinion should be reflected," but added, "I do not know what the mayor was thinking."

The trial on development favoritism allegations was delayed during the process of renewing the trial procedures after the court's regular personnel reshuffle last week, but the resumption of witness examinations has accelerated the proceedings again. Lawyer Jung, who was absent from the previous trial due to COVID-19 quarantine, also attended the trial as his isolation was lifted.

Future investigations into lobbying allegations involving political and governmental circles are also crucial. The dedicated investigation team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office temporarily paused related investigations after indicting former People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Sang-do at the end of last month. Former lawmaker Kwak is scheduled for his first trial on the 17th on charges including accepting a 5 billion KRW bribe under the pretext of his son's retirement allowance in exchange for favors to developers. With the presidential election concluded, there is a growing need to accelerate investigations into the so-called '5 Billion Club' allegations involving former special prosecutor Park Young-soo and former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il.

However, there is also a view that it may be burdensome for related investigations, which had stalled due to political controversies before the election, to immediately intensify. President-elect Yoon, when asked by reporters at the National Assembly about the Daejang-dong allegations investigation after his victory speech the day before, said, "It might be better not to talk about Daejang-dong today," and added, "As I always say, all issues should be addressed through the system, shouldn't they?"

On the 25th of last month, Won Hee-ryong, head of the policy headquarters of the People Power Party's election campaign, announced that he had obtained the 'Daechang-dong document bundle' abandoned in a drainage near the Bundang exit of the Second Gyeongin Expressway between Anyang and Seongnam, and presented the documents and bag.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

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