"'Lee Jae-myung's Closest Aide' Jeong Jin-sang Faces Detention Decision Today... Judge Who Issued Kim Yong's Warrant Conducts Hearing"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Jeong Jin-sang, the chief political coordinator of the party leader's office and a 'closest aide' to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, faces a detention decision on the 18th.

On the same day at 2 p.m., Jeong will undergo a pre-trial detention hearing (warrant review) before Judge Kim Se-yong, who is in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court. The decision on whether he will be detained is expected as early as late afternoon. Judge Kim previously issued an arrest warrant on the 22nd of last month for Kim Yong, deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute and another close aide to Lee (on charges of violating the Political Funds Act), drawing attention to what conclusion will be reached regarding Jeong.

There is also keen interest in whether Jeong will appear publicly for the first time since allegations of 'preferential treatment and lobbying in the Daejang-dong urban development' surfaced. He has rarely been exposed to the public. Even when summoned and investigated at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 15th, he appeared privately and avoided the press upon leaving.

Jeong is accused of receiving a total of 140 million won in bribes over six occasions (bribery under the Special Act) from Yoo Dong-gyu, former head of planning at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, and others known as the 'Daejang-dong group' in exchange for facilitating various project promotions while serving as Seongnam City policy secretary and Gyeonggi Province policy director from February 2013 to October 2020.

He is also charged with promising to share 24.5% of common stock (after tax 42.8 billion won) of private developer Kim Man-bae in February 2015 as a reward for selecting the Daejang-dong development project operator with Kim Yong (detained and indicted), Yoo, and others (acceptance of bribes after improper conduct). Additionally, from July 2013 to March 2017, he allegedly leaked internal secrets of Seongnam City and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation to private developers including Nam Wook, enabling them to be selected as developers for the Wirye New Town project, allowing Hoban Construction to implement and construct the project, thereby gaining development profits worth approximately 21 billion won (violation of the Anti-Corruption Act). He is also accused of instructing Yoo to throw his mobile phone out the window on September 29 last year when a prosecutorial search was imminent (obstruction of evidence).

The prosecution conducted a search and seizure of Jeong's home and office on the 9th, securing case-related materials, and summoned Jeong as a suspect on the 15th for about 14 hours of investigation. Jeong has completely denied the charges, claiming the prosecution is investigating solely based on testimonies from Yoo and other related parties.

If Jeong is detained following Deputy Director Kim, it is widely expected that the prosecution's investigation will intensify toward Lee. Kim and Jeong are considered Lee's closest aides who assisted him closely. The prosecution believes that the person who actually benefited from their crimes and held the final decision-making authority over various projects was Lee. The prosecution even described Jeong and Lee as a "political community" in the search warrant.

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