Lee Jae-myung Daejang-dong Suspect's Summons Approaching, Yoon Dong-gyu Interview Released... "Proposed Bidding Participation First"

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] As Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is scheduled to appear before the prosecution on the 28th as a suspect in the Daejang-dong case, an interview has been revealed in which former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu stated that "Lee Jae-myung himself first proposed the participation of private business operators such as lawyer Nam Wook in the bidding."

In an interview released by JTBC on the 24th, former Director Yoo said, "People like Nam Wook and Kim Man-bae helped Mayor Lee Jae-myung significantly for his re-election, and I clearly conveyed that to Mayor Lee Jae-myung as well."

Interview scene of Yudonggyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation. Photo by JTBC News

Lee Jae-myung First Proposed Private Business Operators' Participation in Bidding... Also Said, "Isn't This Too Burdensome?"

Former Director Yoo claimed that right after the 2014 local elections, he personally reported to Lee Jae-myung about the roles of the Daejang-dong project operators, and despite their wishes, he reported that it would be problematic if the Daejang-dong operators were decided through the bidding process, but Lee himself first proposed their participation in the bidding.

He said, "'(The bidding) operators can just come in,' so to speak, 'They can just participate in the bidding.' That was the exact wording, but anyway, I remember it as 'They can just come in.'"

Additionally, former Director Yoo said, "Before I could even say, 'We need to proceed in this way regarding the demands of private business operators or such matters,' the mayor had already issued a policy," and added, "So I thought, 'Maybe it's because Jin-sang Hyung (former Secretary-General Jeong Jin-sang) talked about it.'" This implies that before he could report, the policy was issued from Lee in the direction desired by the private business operators, and he thought Lee was receiving direct reports from Jeong and others.

Interview scene of Yudonggyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation. Photo by JTBC News

Former Director Yoo also said, "When I said, 'We will secure rental housing,' (Mayor Lee) said, 'Then isn't that too burdensome?' and I replied, 'It seems possible.'" This suggests that during the process of reporting methods to recover development profits, Lee made remarks that seemed to express concern for the private business operators.

Regarding the Daejang-dong profits he was promised by Kim Man-bae and others, he reiterated his previous claim, saying, "It was stored in a reservoir. It was prepared to be used as election funds and funds to support Lee Jae-myung."

Former Director Yoo also shared an anecdote about Lee, saying, "'I am the treasurer. You should be nice to me, Mayor,' I joked, but he gave me a sharp look at that moment," and "(So) I thought, 'I made a mistake.' Because I'm not a direct subordinate. When it comes to someone like Jeong Jin-sang, direct subordinates share such secrets."

Interview scene with Yudonggyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation. Photo by JTBC News

Ahead of the Investigation on the 28th, Lee and the Prosecution Engage in an All-Out Battle... Possibility of Refusing Detailed Testimony

Meanwhile, ahead of Lee's summons investigation scheduled for this weekend, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun) and Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin), which are investigating allegations of preferential treatment and corruption in the Daejang-dong and Wirye development projects, reportedly had most of their investigation teams working during the Lunar New Year holiday period except for the holiday itself, refining their questionnaires and making thorough preparations for the investigation.

Lee himself reportedly did not schedule any public appearances during the holiday period and focused on establishing defense strategies with his lawyers in preparation for his appearance before the prosecution.

Previously, on the 10th, when Lee appeared at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch as a suspect in the 'Seongnam FC sponsorship' case, he submitted a six-page written statement refuting the prosecution's logic for establishing the 'third-party bribery' charge and replaced most of his answers with this written testimony.

Therefore, it is expected that Lee will prepare and submit a written statement containing rebuttal arguments against the charges applied by the prosecution in the Daejang-dong and Wirye cases, such as breach of trust and violation of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act, during this investigation as well.

According to the indictment submitted to the National Assembly regarding Kim Man-bae and others' violation of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act in the Daejang-dong case, the prosecution reportedly stated that Lee approved, through former Secretary-General Jeong, the plan for private operators to establish a corporation and participate in the project at the early stage, and to provide about 24.5% (later determined to be 42.8 billion KRW) of the Daejang-dong project profits to his side.

During the prosecution's investigation, based on testimonies from lawyer Nam Wook, former Director Yoo, former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Strategic Business Director Jeong Min-yong, and others, the prosecution is expected to focus on questioning whether Lee cooperated knowing that the Daejang-dong group could receive enormous development profits and whether he agreed to receive a substantial amount of development profits from the Daejang-dong group.

Despite being informed by the prosecution that at least two days of investigation would be necessary due to the volume of material to be examined, Lee set his appearance date for Saturday the 28th. Therefore, it is highly likely that Lee will not respond to the prosecution's detailed questions beyond the prepared written statement. If Lee maintains such a testimony stance, the prosecution, judging that further summons investigations would be meaningless, may not forcibly attempt additional summons and may proceed directly with measures regarding Lee's custody.

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