Lee Jae-myung Refused Prosecution Appearance Citing 'Written Response'... Sent Less Than 5 Lines in Reply to 20-Page Written Inquiry

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is answering questions from reporters as he moves to the party leader's office at the National Assembly on the 6th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] It was revealed on the 10th that Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was recently indicted for making false statements during the 20th presidential election, submitted a written response of less than five lines to the prosecution’s 20-page written inquiry before being indicted.

On the 6th, the Democratic Party’s claim that “there is no reason to summon him since Lee has already submitted a written statement” was confirmed to be inaccurate as Lee did not comply with the prosecution’s summons.

According to legal circles on that day, the Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Sang-hyun), which has been investigating Lee’s alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act, received a written response of less than five lines from Lee’s side.

It is known that Lee did not refuse to submit a written response itself. However, considering that he sent a response of less than five lines to the prosecution’s 20-page written inquiry, it is expected that he either gave answers indicating no change in his previous stance regarding the allegations?such as whether he knew the late Kim Moon-gi, former Head of Development 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, who was involved in the Daejang-dong development project, or whether Seongnam City supervised the land-use change of the Korea Food Research Institute site related to the Baekhyeon-dong project?or gave a general answer like “I will reveal everything during the trial.”

Since Lee did not respond to most of the 20-page written inquiry sent by the prosecution, the prosecution apparently judged that a direct investigation of Lee was inevitable as the statute of limitations (midnight on the 9th) was approaching.

On the 6th, when the prosecution requested Lee’s appearance, Ahn Ho-young, senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party, stated in a written briefing, “Lee accepted the prosecution’s request for a written investigation and submitted a written statement, so the reason for the summons has disappeared, and he will not appear.”

On the 8th, the prosecution indicted Lee without detention on charges of making false statements related to Kim Moon-gi and Baekhyeon-dong (false statement under the Public Official Election Act). The Baekhyeon-dong case had been investigated by the Criminal Division 3 of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office Seongnam Branch (Chief Prosecutor Yoo Min-jong), but to allow Lee to face trial for both cases together, a prosecutor from the Seongnam Branch was temporarily assigned to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, and the cases were collectively indicted at the Seoul Central District Court.

The prosecution judged that Lee’s statements made during multiple broadcasts?that he did not know the lower-ranking Kim Moon-gi during his tenure as Seongnam mayor when the Daejang-dong development project was underway, and that he only came to know Kim through an introduction by a practitioner familiar with the project after being elected governor of Gyeonggi Province in 2018 when the election law lawsuit began?were false.

Based on Kim’s mobile phone and laptop, testimony from Yoo Dong-gyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, photos released by the bereaved family, voice recordings, and testimonies from related parties, the prosecution confirmed circumstances indicating that Lee knew Kim not only during his tenure as Seongnam mayor while promoting the Daejang-dong project but also from his time as a lawyer, leading to this conclusion.

The prosecution also confirmed that Kim had already saved Lee’s contact as “Lawyer Lee Jae-myung” on his mobile phone in 2009, and that the two were absent from official schedules and played golf together during a business trip to Australia and New Zealand in 2015 when Lee was mayor of Seongnam.

In particular, the prosecution confirmed that Lee received multiple face-to-face reports from Kim in the Seongnam mayor’s office regarding the Daejang-dong development project and the 1st Industrial Complex park project. As the controversy over the Daejang-dong allegations, which was the biggest issue during the presidential election, intensified following Kim’s death, the prosecution judged that Lee intentionally lied to sever the connection with Kim, a key practitioner of the Daejang-dong project, and the related matters mediated by Kim.

Meanwhile, the prosecution also concluded that Lee’s statements regarding the “Baekhyeon-dong preferential treatment suspicion” were false.

On October 20 last year, during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee’s audit of Gyeonggi Province, Lee said regarding the suspicion of preferential land-use change of the Korea Food Research Institute site in Baekhyeon-dong, “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requested the land-use change, and under the Special Act on the Relocation of Public Institutions, we had no choice but to comply.”

He also said, “Since Seongnam City could not accept obtaining thousands of billions of won in profits through the land-use change, the city said it would secure some profits and attract office facilities, but the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport threatened to accuse us of dereliction of duty.”

However, the prosecution found through official documents and investigations of responsible officials that Seongnam City had not received any request from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for a four-step zoning upgrade at that time, and that it was Seongnam City’s own decision.

Since Lee avoided giving specific answers to the prosecution’s written inquiries and was indicted without being summoned for investigation, his explanations regarding the specific allegations will be confirmed in court.

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