Recording Released in Daejangdong Trial... Kim Man-bae: "Lee Jae-myung? He Will Become President"

Kim "Yeonghak, if Lee Jae-myung goes to Cheongwadae later"… Recording hints at key position
"I am someone who fights with Yoon Seok-yeol too… I would die with the cards I have"

Developer Kim Man-bae (left) of Daejang-dong, accountant Jung Young-hak. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Conversations between Daejang-dong developer Kim Man-bae and accountant Jeong Young-hak were revealed in court. In these conversations, Kim mentioned to accountant Jeong that if Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, were elected president, he might be appointed to a key position.

On the 2nd, the defense attorney for former National Assembly member Kwak Sang-do presented a recording dated March 24, 2020, to accountant Jeong, who appeared as a witness at the trial held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 (Presiding Judge Lee Jun-cheol). The recording disclosed in court was made by accountant Jeong of conversations and calls with private developers involved in the Daejang-dong project from 2012 to 2014 and 2019 to 2020.

In the recording, when accountant Jeong asked, "Isn't it really good if the approval rating comes out second?" Kim replied, "Lee Jae-myung? Lee Jae-myung will become president."

Also, when Kim said, "Young-hak, later if Lee Jae-myung goes to the Blue House," accountant Jeong responded, "Not at all, brother, I have only one kidney. If I get COVID-19, I will die immediately."

The defense attorney for former lawmaker Kwak asked, "Did Kim say he would make the witness work at the Blue House or in a key position?" Accountant Jeong answered, "I never thought it meant that."

The attorney also pointed out that the recording submitted by the prosecution to the court included Kim saying, "Young-hak, later if Lee Jae-myung goes to the Blue House," but this part was missing from the recording accountant Jeong submitted to the prosecution, asking, "Did you deliberately cut the recording file?" Accountant Jeong explained, "I did not cut it; I excluded it because I thought it was unrelated to work."

The recording where Kim said, "Yoon Seok-yeol will die if he has the card that brother (Kim Man-bae) holds," was also presented, and the attorney asked, "What card does this refer to?" Accountant Jeong replied, "I do not actually know what card it is."

Furthermore, the attorney asked, "Did Kim usually tell the witness, 'I am someone who fights with Yoon Seok-yeol'?" and "Did Kim use the expression 'Lee Jae-myung-nim' when referring to leader Lee Jae-myung?" Accountant Jeong answered "Yes" to both questions.

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