Jeong Jin-sang's Detention Hearing Ends After 8 Hours 10 Minutes... Results Expected Early Morning on the 19th

Prosecutors' Investigation at a Crossroads Over Director Jeong's Detention Decision

Jin Sang Jeong, Chief of Political Coordination Office, Office of the Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The pre-trial detention hearing (warrant hearing) for Jeong Jin-sang, Chief of Political Coordination at the Office of the Democratic Party leader, concluded after 8 hours and 10 minutes.

The hearing, presided over by Judge Kim Se-yong, who is in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, began at 2 p.m. on the 18th and lasted until 10:10 p.m.

As the hearing took longer than expected, there were two 10-minute recesses during the session.

The longest warrant hearing to date was the 8 hours and 40 minutes session for former President Park Geun-hye during the state corruption scandal.

On this day, the prosecution presented a roughly three-hour presentation from 2 p.m. to around 5 p.m., explaining the criminal charges against Jeong and the necessity of his detention. In particular, the prosecution reportedly submitted multiple pieces of physical evidence along with testimonies from former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu and private developer lawyer Nam Wook, regarding the bribery delivery process.

Afterward, Jeong’s defense team reportedly began refuting the prosecution’s claims point by point from around 5 p.m. They also submitted a rebuttal statement of about 100 pages to the court.

After the hearing, Jeong told the waiting press, "I participated sincerely," adding, "Despite any oppression, history and democracy will progress. Our people will continue to move forward."

Jeong, a close aide to Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, is accused of receiving 140 million KRW in six installments from the Daejang-dong group between February 2013 and October 2020, and promising with Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, along with Kim Yong, Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute, and former Director Yoo, to share approximately 42.8 billion KRW in development profits from the Daejang-dong project in exchange for selecting the developer.

He is also accused of leaking internal secrets of Seongnam City and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation to private developers such as lawyer Nam between July 2013 and March 2017, enabling them to be selected as developers for the Wirye New Town project, allowing Hoban Construction to implement and construct the project, thereby obtaining development profits worth about 21 billion KRW. Additionally, he is charged with instructing former Director Yoo to throw his mobile phone out the window on September 29 last year, just before the prosecution’s raid.

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun), which summoned Jeong for investigation on the 15th, filed a detention warrant request on the 16th on charges including bribery under the Specific Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act, bribery after improper conduct, violation of the Anti-Corruption Act, and obstruction of evidence.

Jeong’s detention decision is expected to be made past midnight into the early morning of the 19th.

The outcome of Jeong’s warrant hearing is expected to be a turning point in the prosecution’s investigation.

If Jeong, known as the "right-hand man" of Lee and who admitted to being a close aide, is detained on charges of receiving bribes from the Daejang-dong group following Kim Yong, Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute (already indicted and detained), the prosecution is expected to immediately proceed with an investigation into Lee himself.

Until now, the Democratic Party, which has actively defended Lee and others by labeling the investigation as "opposition party oppression," and Lee himself, who has emphasized the innocence of Jeong and others by calling it a "prosecution’s fictional novel," will find it increasingly difficult to maintain credibility.

On the other hand, if the detention warrant requested by the prosecution for Jeong is dismissed, the prosecution will have no choice but to conduct supplementary investigations and attempt to secure Jeong’s custody again, though it will face criticism for "overreliance on testimony and excessive investigation."

The unusually long duration of the warrant hearing on this day is also analyzed as a result of both the prosecution and Jeong’s side fully recognizing the importance of this hearing and putting all their efforts into explaining the criminal charges and the necessity of detention, and defending against them, respectively.

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