Prosecutors Sent 'Written Inquiry' to Lee Jae-myung Last Month... Summons Issued After No Response

Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung is answering reporters' questions after paying respects at the May 18 Democratic Cemetery in Buk-gu, Gwangju, on the morning of the 2nd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The prosecution attempted to conduct a written investigation before summoning Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, but after receiving no response, it is understood that they proceeded with the summons.

According to the legal community on the 2nd, the Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Sang-hyun) sent a written inquiry to Lee's side on the 19th of last month regarding allegations of false information disclosure.

Lee is accused of falsely claiming in an interview with a broadcasting company during the presidential election period that he did not know the late Kim Moon-gi, the head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, who was a key figure in the Daejang-dong development project.

Additionally, on October 20th last year, during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit of Gyeonggi Province, Lee allegedly made false statements regarding the special favor suspicions about the Baekhyeon-dong site land-use change, saying that "the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport forced us to do it" in reference to a cooperation letter received from the Ministry during development. He is also accused of falsely stating during last year's audit and other occasions that he "was not informed" about the deletion of the Daejang-dong excess profit recovery clause and that "after the selection of the preferred negotiation partner, it cannot be changed recklessly due to possible disciplinary action by the Board of Audit and Inspection." These cases are expected to reach the statute of limitations on the 9th.

The prosecution, considering that Lee, who was mayor of Seongnam in January 2015, went on a long-term overseas business trip with Director Kim, places weight on the possibility that his statement "I did not know while serving as mayor" is false and attempted a written investigation of Lee.

The investigation team sent the written inquiry to Lee's side on the 19th of last month, requesting a reply by the 26th, but no response was received by the deadline, and with no answers forthcoming, a summons was reportedly issued.

Since it is difficult to summon Lee multiple times, the prosecution plans to investigate the false information disclosure charges related to the 'Baekhyeon-dong special favor suspicions,' handled by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch, simultaneously when he appears.

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