Prosecutors Secretly Summon Former Chief Jeong Jin-sang Over Ssangbangwool North Korea Remittance Allegations

The prosecution investigating the allegations of illegal remittances to North Korea by Ssangbangwool Group is understood to have privately summoned Jeong Jin-sang, former Political Coordination Officer in the office of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 4th.

Jung Jin-sang, former Chief of Political Coordination Office, Office of the Democratic Party of Korea Party Leader
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to legal circles, the Criminal Division 6 of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-nam) called Jeong as a witness for questioning on the day. Jeong reportedly entered the building's underground parking lot by car to avoid the press.

The prosecution is known to be questioning whether Jeong, who worked as the Director of Policy for Gyeonggi Province in 2019, was aware of Ssangbangwool Group's alleged remittances to North Korea. The allegations involve former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Sung-tae sending a total of 8 million USD to North Korea in 2019, including 5 million USD for a North Korean smart farm support project that Gyeonggi Province was supposed to fund at the request of former Gyeonggi Peace Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young, and 3 million USD for the governor's visit to North Korea, which was also demanded by the North at the time.

Former Deputy Governor Lee has consistently denied any connection with Ssangbangwool since the allegations surfaced, but recently changed his stance during prosecution questioning, stating that he had asked Ssangbangwool to facilitate the governor's visit to North Korea, marking a new phase in the investigation. He also reportedly testified to the prosecution that Jeong Jin-sang had said to expedite the governor's visit to North Korea.

Earlier, on the 27th of last month, the prosecution also summoned Kim Yong, former spokesperson for Gyeonggi Province and former deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute, as a witness to investigate the North Korea remittance allegations. Kim publicly appeared and denied the allegations, stating, "Apart from having one meal with former Chairman Kim Sung-tae, there was no other interaction."

With the prosecution summoning Jeong Jin-sang following Kim Yong, the investigation into Lee Jae-myung, who was the governor of Gyeonggi Province at the time, is expected to accelerate. The prosecution views Ssangbangwool's payments as third-party bribery and has additionally registered former Deputy Governor Lee as a suspect and is investigating him. Lee's summons is expected within this month.

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