Lee Jung-geun receives 30 million won claiming to greet the Minister of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Testimony has emerged that former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party Lee Jeong-geun received 30 million won in exchange for lobbying former Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 27 (Presiding Judge Kim Ok-gon) summoned businessman Park, who claimed to have handed money to Lee, as a witness and questioned him on the 20th.

Park testified that he met Lee in November 2019 after being introduced to him during the process of acquiring a small and medium enterprise venture investment company. Park said, "Lee said he was close to Minister Park Young-sun like 'older sister-younger sister' and that he could get help, and that he would meet and talk to an investment company official named Kim."

Former Minister Park served as the Minister of SMEs and Startups from 2019 to 2021, overseeing and supervising investment companies.

Park explained, "Lee asked for 20 million won, so I gave him 20 million won, and then he asked for more money, so a total of 30 million won was given."

However, former Minister Park stated that she never had a phone call with Lee nor received any lobbying requests.

Park also claimed that Lee mentioned not only former Minister Park but also former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil, former Blue House Chief of Staff Noh Young-min, and former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo. Lee's lawyer denied all of Park's statements as 'one-sided claims.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

During the trial that day, circumstances were also revealed that Lee requested election funds from Park in early 2020. According to a phone recording disclosed by the prosecutor, when Lee said, "Please do it today," Park asked, "Exactly how many more do you need?" Lee replied, "Five, five," and Park responded, "Understood."

Lee also specifically requested amounts, saying, "The registration fee is 1,200, and the campaign vehicle is 2,200. If you give me just three or four more, I will handle it comfortably."

On the other hand, Lee's lawyer argued, "The witness offered to help the defendant with election expenses, so the support was received, and all election funds were received through bank accounts," adding, "He intended to repay it later."

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