Eunhwayoung Lee's Denial, Statement to Jaemyung Lee on "3 Million Dollar Ssangbangwool Payment Report"
Partial Change in Testimony to "Request Ssangbangwool to Promote North Korea Visit" in Trial

The prosecution investigating the allegations of illegal remittances to North Korea by Ssangbangwool Group has secured evidence suggesting that Lee Jae-myung, then governor of Gyeonggi Province and current leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was involved in the remittance process. Lee Hwa-young, former Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province who led the remittance process, testified during the prosecution’s investigation that he had reported in advance to Lee Jae-myung about Ssangbangwool Group’s payment of 3 million dollars on behalf of the North Korea remittance, marking a new phase in the investigation.

According to the legal community on the 19th, Lee Hwa-young, who was indicted in connection with the Ssangbangwool Group’s North Korea remittance allegations, recently testified during the prosecution’s investigation that “after reporting in advance to then-Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung about Ssangbangwool’s payment of North Korea visit expenses, the remittance to North Korea proceeded.”

Lee Hwa-young, the key figure in the North Korea remittance, had previously remained tight-lipped about any connection with Lee Jae-myung, causing the prosecution’s investigation to stagnate. However, it has been reported that Lee recently reversed his previous statements.

Several factors appear to have influenced Lee Hwa-young’s sudden change in testimony. Since the investigation began last year, Lee had been quite uncooperative during prosecution interrogations. Within the prosecution, there were murmurs that progress could only be made if Lee opened up, but he consistently feigned ignorance, resulting in no advancement.

However, recently, Lee Hwa-young is said to have undergone a change of heart, gradually beginning to open up after previously being as impenetrable as a fortress. Until recently, Lee believed that the Democratic Party would not abandon him, but after allegations surfaced regarding former Democratic Party leader Lee Hae-chan’s office expense payments and the party appeared to be distancing itself from him, analysts suggest this shift influenced his change in testimony.

As Kim Sung-tae, chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, began actively testifying in court, Lee Hwa-young partially reversed his previous stance, stating that he had requested Ssangbangwool to facilitate the governor’s visit to North Korea. At a hearing held the previous day at the Suwon District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Shin Jin-woo), Lee’s defense stated, “Although the position was that they ‘had no knowledge or involvement’ regarding the request for the governor’s visit expenses, he testified that ‘(during recent prosecution questioning) he asked Ssangbangwool to try to facilitate a visit to North Korea.’”

However, Lee did not clarify whether the request extended to Ssangbangwool paying the 3 million dollars in visit expenses. Regarding the 5 million dollars for North Korea’s smart farm support project, which Gyeonggi Province had agreed to fund, he maintained the same position as before, continuing to deny involvement.

Lee Hwa-young is accused of conspiring with former chairman Kim and others to smuggle out 8 million dollars (approximately 8.8 billion KRW) overseas in five installments from January 2019 to January 2020 and delivering it to North Korean officials.

The prosecution believes that of the 8 million dollars, 5 million was promised by Gyeonggi Province to North Korea as support for the smart farm project but, due to difficulties caused by North Korea sanctions, Ssangbangwool delivered the money to North Korea on behalf of Gyeonggi Province. The remaining 3 million dollars is considered to have been paid by Ssangbangwool on behalf of Lee Jae-myung’s visit expenses, as local government funds could not be used for this purpose.

Future prosecution investigations are expected to focus on whether Lee Jae-myung was deeply involved in Ssangbangwool’s North Korea remittance process and whether he knowingly tolerated Ssangbangwool’s payment of North Korean funds on his behalf.

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