Prosecutors Say Yoon's Statement "'Lee Jae-myung Is the Mastermind Behind Daejang-dong'" Is Merely an Expression of Opinion

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution has determined that President Yoon Seok-yeol's past statement that "the mastermind behind the Daejang-dong development corruption is candidate Lee Jae-myung" is merely an expression of opinion, not a factual assertion.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Sang-hyun) concluded this while dismissing six cases filed by the Citizens' Action for Judicial Justice (Sasehaeng) accusing President Yoon of violating the Public Official Election Act on the 8th due to lack of evidence or by dismissal.

Sasehaeng claimed that President Yoon's remarks at election rallies, such as "The mastermind behind the Daejang-dong development corruption is candidate Lee Jae-myung, who is both the designer and the permit authority," and "Candidate Lee Jae-myung gave special favors to Hwacheon Daeyu, resulting in enormous profits worth about 1 trillion won," constituted the publication of false information.

However, the prosecution dismissed the charges, stating that the overall intent of the remarks was merely an evaluation or expression of opinion regarding the connection between the Daejang-dong development corruption and Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea.

In the non-prosecution statement, it was also noted that considering the total profits earned by Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, amounting to about 1 trillion won, and the fact that Lee was the mayor of Seongnam City at the time of the business agreement and progress, it is difficult to definitively conclude that the key parts of the remarks constitute false information.

Additionally, Sasehaeng filed a complaint alleging that the election campaign of President Yoon's camp falsely declared media reports accusing First Lady Kim Kun-hee of falsifying her part-time lecturer career as "clear misinformation" and "simple errors," which also constituted the publication of false information.

However, the prosecution found that since accurate teaching records were included in Kim's resumes submitted to other universities, and she was the only one recommended, "it is difficult to find a clear motive for Kim to deliberately falsify her teaching history, making it hard to exclude the possibility of an error."

Sasehaeng also raised issues with President Yoon's statements regarding his relationship with Kim Man-bae, the disposal process of his father's house in Yeonhui-dong, and First Lady Kim's securities account transaction history, but the prosecution did not indict on all these matters.

Regarding the complaint alleging that First Lady Kim conspired with President Yoon to falsely explain the 'Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case,' the prosecution dismissed it, stating that "there is insufficient concrete reason or circumstance to initiate an investigation."

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