Prosecutors Raid Gyeonggi Provincial Office Over Lee Jae-myung's False Statement Claiming "I Don't Know Late Kim Moon-gi" (Comprehensive)

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending an emergency party members' meeting held at the National Assembly on the 5th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution has conducted a search and seizure at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government office three days before the statute of limitations expires, in connection with Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was accused of making false statements claiming "I don't know" about the late Kim Moon-gi, former Head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, related to the Daejang-dong development project during the presidential election period.

The Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Sang-hyun) sent investigators to conduct a search and seizure at the office of Team Leader A within the Gyeonggi Provincial Government on the 6th. Team Leader A is known to have been responsible for public relations when Lee was mayor of Seongnam.

Lee is accused of violating the Public Official Election Act by publicly stating false information in a broadcast interview on December 22 last year, after being selected as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, claiming that he "did not know" about the late Kim Moon-gi, who was involved in the Daejang-dong development project, as Kim was a subordinate employee during his tenure as mayor.

Lee denies the charges, stating that he only came to know Kim after being introduced by a staff member well-versed in the Daejang-dong project following the start of election law litigation after his election as governor of Gyeonggi Province in 2018. Instead of complying with the prosecution's summons, Lee reportedly submitted a written statement expressing this position the day before.

However, the prosecution believes that Lee's statement "I did not know during my tenure as mayor" is false, considering that he traveled on a long-term overseas business trip with Kim in January 2015 while serving as mayor of Seongnam. The search and seizure of Team Leader A's office on this day appears to be aimed at verifying the truth behind Lee's statement.

The prosecution plans to analyze Lee's written statement along with the objective evidence collected so far and make a final decision on whether to indict before the statute of limitations expires at midnight on the 9th.

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