Prosecution Arrests and Indicts 'Baekhyeondong Lobbyist' Kim Inseop on 7.7 Billion Won Bribery Charges (Comprehensive)

The prosecution has indicted Kim In-seop, the key figure in the Baekhyeon-dong development project and a 'government relations lobbyist,' former CEO of Korea Housing Technology.

Kim In-seop, former CEO of Korea Housing Technology
Photo by Yonhap News

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun) on the 2nd formally charged former CEO Kim with violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (receiving bribes for mediation) and arrested him.

According to the prosecution, former CEO Kim is accused of receiving 7.7 billion KRW from Chairman Jeong of Asia Developer, a real estate development company, as a bribe for mediation related to permits for the Baekhyeon-dong development project from September 2015 to last March. He is also accused of receiving the business rights to operate a construction site restaurant (hambasikdang) worth approximately 500 million KRW in Baekhyeon-dong in October 2017.

The Baekhyeon-dong development project involved building apartments on the former Korea Food Research Institute site in Baekhyeon-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam City. Asia Developer requested Seongnam City twice in 2014 to upgrade the land use from natural green space to a secondary general residential area in two stages, but was rejected on the grounds that it did not conform to the city's basic urban plan. Then, in January of the following year, former CEO Kim was recruited by Asia Developer, and subsequently, Seongnam City approved a four-stage land use upgrade (from natural green space to semi-residential area).

The ratio of rental housing was also reduced from the original 100% to 10%, favoring private developers, and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation's participation in the development was canceled. The profit of approximately 300 billion KRW all went to private developers.

The prosecution believes that the lobbying efforts of former CEO Kim, who had close ties with then Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung and Lee’s closest aide Jeong Jin-sang, played a role in this land use change.

Former CEO Kim was a close aide who served as the head of the election campaign headquarters for Lee during the 2006 Seongnam mayoral election. It was also revealed that he had a total of 115 phone calls with Jeong from April 2014 to March 2015, when the Baekhyeon-dong development project was underway.

The prosecution suspects that former CEO Kim lobbied for government relations with Lee’s side through meetings and letters with aides while in prison, linking this to Lee’s breach of trust and conflict of interest acts, similar to the Wirye and Daejang-dong cases. Letters from former CEO Kim obtained by the prosecution reportedly contain evidence that he personally managed the progress of the Baekhyeon-dong project and communicated with Lee’s side.

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