Late Kim Moon-gi's eldest son: "Father, I saw Lee Jae-myung call several times"

Appearance of Witness in Public Official Election Act Trial
"There is No Way He Doesn't Know His Father"

The eldest son of the late Kim Moon-gi, Head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, testified in court that he had witnessed several occasions when his father answered phone calls from Lee Jae-myung, the former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, while he was alive.

On the 14th, Kim appeared as a witness at the trial of Lee, held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 34 (Presiding Judge Kang Gyu-tae), on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act. Kim said, "When Lee was the mayor of Seongnam, if I was at our family home, I saw my father come out of the room after answering a phone call," adding, "When I asked who it was, he said it was the mayor of Seongnam."

He also stated, "He received calls during meals, in the evening, late at night, or on weekends," and "When my mother asked, my father answered that he was speaking with the mayor."

Kim testified that he was relatively well aware of the situation at the time because he often heard about his father's work. When the prosecution asked, "Did you hear that the defendant (Lee Jae-myung), as mayor, praised your father regarding his work?" Kim replied, "Not in detail, but my father often talked about such things, not only about Daejang-dong but also other matters."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the continuation of the first trial for violation of the Public Official Election Act at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 14th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim also said that after his father came under investigation by authorities over the Daejang-dong corruption allegations in September 2021, he repeatedly asked, "Is my father really involved?" He testified, "I seriously asked my father, 'Did you really receive anything?'" and "At first, he said something like 'Isn't it all what Yoo Dong-gyu did?' but as time passed, he said he had suspicions about (Lee Jae-myung) as well."

Regarding Lee's claim that he did not know Kim's father, Kim said, "There is no way he didn't know, so I wondered why he was making a blunder."

When the prosecutor asked, "Why do you think so?" Kim asserted, "In 2018, I went to Seongnam City Hall to get a passport, and I clearly remember my father coming from the office next door and saying, 'I went into the mayor's office here and kept reporting.'

About a business trip to Australia and New Zealand in January 2015, Kim said, "After 2020, I often took walks with my father, and he told me stories related to the trip," adding, "He said he went fishing with Lee Jae-myung and reported to him several times."

Lee, sitting in the defendant's seat facing Kim, kept his gaze on the desk rather than on Kim during the prosecution's witness examination.

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