Prosecutors Notify Lee Jae-myung for Summons in 'Ssangbangwool North Korea Remittance' Case... Fifth Since Taking Office (Comprehensive)

The prosecution investigating the allegations of illegal remittances to North Korea by Ssangbangwool Group has summoned Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. This is the fifth time since his inauguration as party leader and comes just six days after he appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office for an investigation into preferential treatment allegations related to Baekhyeon-dong.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 21st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

According to legal circles on the 23rd, the Criminal Division 6 of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-nam) notified Lee to appear for questioning on charges of bribery involving a third party. The summons date is reported to be sometime next week.

The allegations of Ssangbangwool Group's remittances to North Korea involve former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Sung-tae sending a total of 8 million USD to North Korea on behalf of Gyeonggi Province. This includes 5 million USD for the North Korean smart farm development support project, which Gyeonggi Province was supposed to fund at the request of former Gyeonggi Peace Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young in 2019, and 3 million USD for the governor's visit to North Korea, which the North had requested. The prosecution recently registered Lee, who was then the governor of Gyeonggi Province, on suspicion of involvement in Ssangbangwool's payment on behalf of others.

Lee Hwa-young, who was arrested and indicted on charges of receiving bribes and political funds from former Chairman Kim, had denied the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance allegations but reportedly partially reversed his testimony during a prosecution investigation in June, stating that he had requested Ssangbangwool to facilitate the governor's visit to North Korea.

He also testified that he reported to Lee Jae-myung at the time, saying, "Ssangbangwool spent money in North Korea while doing business, so I think they also took care of (the governor's visit to North Korea)."

Former Chairman Kim testified as a witness at Lee Hwa-young's trial on the 11th and 22nd of last month, stating, "I sent money to North Korea after reporting to Lee Jae-myung, who was then a leading presidential candidate. Every time a decision was made to remit money to North Korea, I spoke with Lee through Lee Hwa-young on the phone," and claimed, "Lee was fully aware of the payments on behalf of others." Regarding the reason for the payments, he answered, "Because Lee Hwa-young promised support for North Korea-related projects at the Gyeonggi Province level."

Regarding these allegations, the prosecution previously summoned Kim Yong, former deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute and then spokesperson for Gyeonggi Province, on the 27th of last month, and Jeong Jin-sang, former director of policy at Gyeonggi Province and former political coordination officer at the party leader's office, on the 4th of this month, for questioning as witnesses.

Lee denied the allegations, calling the prosecution's registration of him on the 22nd for the North Korea remittance suspicion "absurd." Previously, Lee had been investigated by the prosecution once for the illegal sponsorship allegations related to Seongnam FC, twice for the Wirye and Daejang-dong development allegations, and once for the Baekhyeon-dong preferential treatment allegations.

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