Prosecutors Accelerate Investigation into 'Daejangdong Suspicion'... Seongnam City Officials Summoned for Questioning

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The prosecution is accelerating its investigation by consecutively summoning Seongnam city officials in connection with the Daejang-dong development lobbying and preferential treatment allegations.

According to the legal community on the 28th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) summoned four people, including Team Leader A, who was in charge of urban development work in Seongnam, as witnesses. Team Leader A was responsible for urban management plans and other tasks during the tenure of Lee Jae-myung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, as mayor of Seongnam. The prosecution is known to have questioned Team Leader A about the early stages of the project and the process of promoting private development.

The prosecution had previously summoned Lee Ho-geun, an original resident who served as the first chairman of the Daejang-dong Urban Development Promotion Committee and assisted with land acquisition, to verify related matters. The prosecution is focusing on the circumstances under which the Daejang-dong development method shifted from private to public-private partnership after Lee took office as mayor of Seongnam in July 2010.

The original residents opposed the LH public development, which acquired land at low prices, from the early stages of the Daejang-dong project and wanted a private-centered urban development project. Lee claimed that before his election as mayor, when he was a lawyer, he attended several protests where original residents gathered to demand private development and encouraged private development.

After taking office, Lee promoted public-private joint development, and in July 2015, Seongnam City established a special purpose company (SPC) called 'Seongnam Eutteul' to proceed with public-private joint development together with Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management and others. At that time, Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, the largest shareholder of Seongnam Eutteul (50%+1 share), received a fixed profit of 183 billion won, but Hwacheon Daeyu and seven individual owners of Cheonhwa Dongin 1 to 7, who held only a 7% stake, received dividends amounting to 404 billion won, sparking controversy over development preferential treatment. In relation to this, the prosecution has already indicted Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, and the so-called 'Daejang-dong gang of four' first.

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