Yoo Dong-gyu "The scariest thing inside prison was people... Endured for 1 year"

Yoo Dong-gyu, former head of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, is attending the continued trial related to lobbying and preferential treatment allegations in the Daejang-dong development project at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 24th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Yoo Dong-gyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, revealed on the 24th that the reason he gave testimony unfavorable to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was because "I realized that the scariest thing inside prison is people."

On the same day, during a recess at the trial of the Daejang-dong development project preferential treatment case held at the Seoul Central District Court, Yoo told reporters, "I endured for a year." He was arrested and indicted last year on suspicion of corruption in the Daejang-dong development project and was released on the 20th after his detention period expired after one year.

Yoo said, "After coming out, I realized many things. I thought they were real 'hyungs' (older brothers in prison slang)," adding, "When it comes to 'loyalty,' I thought it was me (referring to himself). But I realized that I had no reason to be like that."

He continued, "Now my mind is peaceful and light. I can talk comfortably about everything and will approach investigations that way," emphasizing, "If I had a sense of (protective) responsibility during previous investigations, now I will only speak based on facts."

He recently testified during the prosecution's investigation that, at the request of Kim Yong, Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute, he received about 840 million won from lawyer Nam Wook during the Democratic Party's presidential primary preparation process last year.

When asked by reporters whether it would be problematic if there was no physical evidence to support his claims, Yoo firmly replied, "That doesn't matter. It's not a matter of being problematic or not." Regarding whether he had any contact with the Democratic Party side, he said, "I am not interested in politics," adding, "I don't care how politics unfolds or who benefits."

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