Prosecutors Indict Lee Hwa-young for Receiving 'Hundreds of Millions in Bribes' from Ssangbangwool in Exchange for Supporting Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation

Charges Including Bribery Under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and Violations of the Political Funds Act

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Lee Hwa-young, former Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province, who was arrested on charges of receiving bribes worth hundreds of millions of won from Ssangbangwool Group in exchange for supporting inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, and the vice chairman of Ssangbangwool who gave bribes to Lee and helped former and current Ssangbangwool chairmen flee overseas have been brought to trial.

The Criminal Division 6 of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-nam) indicted former Deputy Governor Lee on the 14th on charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and violations of the Political Funds Act, and Ssangbangwool Group Vice Chairman A was arrested and indicted on charges including bribery, violation of the Political Funds Act, evidence tampering, and aiding a fugitive.

Former Deputy Governor Lee is accused of receiving illegal political funds amounting to 320 million won from Ssangbangwool Group between July 2018 and July 2022 through methods such as providing corporate card and vehicle use and paying false salaries to his associates. The prosecution considered 260 million won, which was recognized as related to his official duties, as bribes.

Mr. A is also accused of forcing employees to give false statements and replacing PCs to destroy evidence after the possibility of prosecution investigation was revealed through media reports at the end of last year, in addition to giving political funds to former Deputy Governor Lee. He was also charged with assisting the departure and overseas stay of former and current Ssangbangwool chairmen who are currently fugitives abroad.

The prosecution found that former Deputy Governor Lee participated in drafting agreements related to economic cooperation projects with Ssangbangwool and North Korea’s Chosun Asia-Pacific Peace Committee and the National Economic Cooperation Federation (Mingyeongryeon) in Shenyang, China, in January and May 2019.

According to the prosecution, this agreement granted Ssangbangwool affiliates business rights to minerals including rare earth elements from North Korea, and shortly thereafter, the stocks of the affiliates surged. The prosecution concluded that former Deputy Governor Lee abused his position as Deputy Governor for Peace, who oversaw Gyeonggi Province’s inter-Korean policies at the time, to unfairly assist private companies and gain personal benefits through this method.

However, the prosecution found no connection between this bribery case and Lee Jae-myung, the then Governor of Gyeonggi Province and current leader of the Democratic Party of Korea.

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