'5 Billion Club' Park Young-soo Faces Re-Arrest: "I Will Tell the Truth in Court"

Former special prosecutor Park Young-soo, suspected of receiving bribes in exchange for helping private developers in Daejang-dong, has appeared again for a detention hearing after about a month. Whether the prosecution succeeds in securing his custody is expected to be a critical turning point in the investigation related to the so-called '50 Billion Club' and other Daejang-dong lobbying allegations.

Park Young-soo, the former special prosecutor and key suspect in the 'Daejang-dong 5 Billion Club' case, is attending a pre-arrest hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 3rd. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

At 10:30 a.m. on the 3rd, Judge Yoon Jae-nam, head of the warrant division at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted a pre-trial detention hearing for Park, who is accused of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and receiving bribes under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. During his appearance, former special prosecutor Park told reporters, "I am sorry for the repeated inconvenience. I will speak truthfully in court." When asked questions such as 'Whether the money received from the Daejang-dong group was indeed a bribe' and 'Whether it is true that he destroyed his mobile phone with a hammer to tamper with evidence,' he waved his hands and did not respond. The decision on his detention is expected to be made late that night or early the next morning.

Earlier, on June 30, the court dismissed the prosecution's first detention warrant request, citing disputed issues regarding Park's job relevance, the actual receipt of money, and the establishment of the promise to provide money. The prosecution conducted intensive supplementary investigations targeting Park's family and lawyers from the same law firm who helped with the Korean Bar Association presidential election, strengthened the evidence, and added charges of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act before reapplying for the warrant on the 31st of last month. However, they did not reapply for the warrant for former special prosecutor aide Yang Jae-sik, whose warrant was also dismissed, as they judged that detention was not necessary.

Park is accused of receiving a large sum of money, including 800 million won, as a promise in exchange for accommodating requests related to the consortium of private developers such as Nam Wook in the Daejang-dong development project while serving as an outside director, chairman of the board, and audit committee member at Woori Bank. Initially, Woori Bank considered participating as an investor in the Seongnam-e Deul consortium but ultimately did not participate due to opposition from the screening department in March 2015. Instead, it submitted a letter of intent for project financing (PF) loans amounting to 150 billion won. As a result, the Seongnam-e Deul consortium received nearly perfect scores in the 'funding' category of the private developer evaluation and was selected as the preferred negotiation partner.

The prosecution suspects that Park conspired with his closest aide, former special prosecutor aide Yang Jae-sik, and received 20 billion won and an unspecified value of land and a single-family house to be built on it from Nam and others in November-December 2014 in relation to the consortium's investment and issuance of the letter of intent. They also found that Park actually received 300 million won in cash as election funds for the Korean Bar Association presidential election. The prosecution confirmed that Nam delivered a total of 300 million won in three installments in shopping bags to Park through Yang at the election campaign office and the Gangnam law firm office.

The prosecution reportedly secured testimonies that lawyers who helped the campaign received at least 130 million won from Yang. They also discovered numerous text messages on the mobile phone of lawyer Lee, who was in charge of overall election management including funds, detailing recipients, dates, and amounts of money transfers.

Park is also accused of receiving 500 million won from Kim Man-bae and others in March-April 2015 as a bribe for requesting the issuance of a letter of intent and promising an additional 5 billion won in the future after Woori Bank's role was reduced. The prosecution suspects that Park received the 500 million won from Kim, Nam, and accountant Jung Young-hak through Daejang-dong sales agent Lee Ki-sung, then sent the money back to Kim to be used as capital increase funds for Hwacheon Daeyu, thereby securing shares in the Daejang-dong project. Additionally, the prosecution newly applied charges of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, suspecting that Park and his daughter Park Mo conspired to receive 1.1 billion won borrowed from Hwacheon Daeyu in five installments between September 2019 and February 2021.

Park served as a special prosecutor for the state affairs manipulation case from December 2016 to July 2021. However, the prosecution did not include in the charges the approximately 60 million won salary Park's daughter received from Hwacheon Daeyu from June 2016 to September 2021, nor the capital gains from purchasing an apartment owned by Hwacheon Daeyu at half the market price, as the conspiracy relationship with Park was unclear.

Meanwhile, the prosecution believes that around February 16, when discussions about the '50 Billion Club special prosecutor' began in earnest in political circles, Park engaged in evidence tampering and coordinating testimonies. It is reported that Park used a hammer to destroy his mobile phone and opened a new phone during the evidence destruction process.

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