Jung Jin-sang and Kim Yong's Side: "Jung Sung-ho Meeting Was Consolation, Not Persuasion... Prosecution Is Malicious"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 14th, Jeong Jin-sang, former Political Coordination Office Chief of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) representative office, and Kim Yong, former Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute, denied allegations that they were coerced in the detention center by Jeong Seong-ho, a DPK lawmaker affiliated with the 'Lee Jae-myung faction.'

Jeong's former office chief's lawyer issued a statement that day, saying, "Lawmaker Jeong only comforted the former office chief and there was absolutely no coercion." He added, "The former office chief denies all the prosecution's charges and feels very wronged by the indictment. This stance is unwavering because it is the truth. Therefore, there is no reason for Lawmaker Jeong to coerce the former office chief, nor did such coercion occur," emphasizing this point.

Jung Jin-sang, former Chief of Political Coordination Office at the Democratic Party of Korea Representative Office [Image source=Yonhap News]

The lawyer said, "On the contrary, the former office chief asked Lawmaker Jeong to help Lee Jae-myung, the party leader, and to steadfastly take care of the people's livelihood, assuring that his innocence would be proven in court."

He continued, "We cannot help but deeply worry that the prosecution is maliciously leaking the details of the visit to the media, seemingly attempting to undermine the credibility of the former office chief's testimony," criticizing the prosecution.

Kim's former deputy director's lawyer also released a statement, questioning, "How could coercion be possible in a setting where prison officers record the meeting?"

He added, "We deplore the prosecution's attitude of using even the minimum allowed visits to detained defendants as a means to distort the truth. We believe the truth will be revealed during the trial and will face the trial confidently," he added.

Jeong Seong-ho, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker [Image source=Yonhap News]

It was reported in the media the previous day that Lawmaker Jeong visited Seoul Detention Center in December last year and last month, meeting Kim's former deputy director and Jeong's former office chief once each through 'location change visits,' raising suspicions that this was an attempt to silence them. In a National Assembly press conference that day, Lawmaker Jeong explained, "The conversations were for comfort and encouragement, and based on my experience as a lawyer, I gave general advice to thoroughly prepare for the trial."

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