Testimony from Seongnam City Official on "Jung Jin-sang's Orders" Likely to Shake Lee's Trial over Baekhyeon-dong False Statements

Testimony in court that "Jeong Jin-sang, former Chief of Political Coordination at the Democratic Party Representative Office, pressured to assist Kim In-seop, former CEO of Korea Housing Technology and 'Baekhyeon-dong lobbyist,'" has put the political and legal circles on high alert. On the 13th, Kim, a public official in Seongnam City who was in charge of the permits for the Baekhyeon-dong site from 2014 to 2018, testified accordingly in court.

Jung Jin-sang, former Chief of Political Coordination Office at the Democratic Party of Korea Representative Office [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 15th, legal circles speculated that Kim's explosive testimony could completely change the course of the trial for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act scheduled for the 22nd.

In October 2021, during the National Assembly inspection of Gyeonggi Province, Lee explained regarding the change of use of the Baekhyeon-dong site, saying, "During the Park Geun-hye administration, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport threatened to accuse us of dereliction of duty, so we had no choice but to approve the change of use." The People Power Party claimed this statement was false, filed a complaint against Lee, and he was indicted. Lee’s side maintains that the statement was not false, based on Ministry of Land documents from 2014.

However, analysis suggests that Kim’s testimony undermines Lee’s claim. If Kim’s testimony is true, the change of use for the Baekhyeon-dong site was more directly caused by collusion between Lee and former Chief Jeong and private developers, rather than pressure from the Ministry of Land.

Earlier, on the 13th, Kim appeared as a witness at the Seoul Central District Court in the trial of former CEO Kim In-seop on charges of bribery and testified that he received instructions from former Chief Jeong to assist Kim In-seop. When asked by the prosecution, "Did former Chief Jeong call you out for a drinking session in 2014 and say, 'Inseop hyung (Kim In-seop) is trying to do the Baekhyeon-dong project, so you need to take good care of it'?" Kim answered, "Yes." When the prosecution asked again, "Is it correct that former Chief Jeong’s instructions were given under the orders of then-Governor Lee Jae-myung and that former Chief Jeong could not have acted alone?" Kim replied, "I think so." He also testified that he heard from a manager named Lee in the related department that "the decision from the second floor was that Seongnam Urban Development Corporation would not participate in the project." The "second floor" referred to the mayor’s office at the time, which Seongnam city officials used as a euphemism for Lee and former Chief Jeong.

Seemingly aware of the impact of the testimony, former Chief Jeong immediately issued a statement on the day of Kim’s testimony, saying, "There is no fact that I instructed to assist former CEO Kim. I believe (Kim) was under severe pressure during the investigation and audit process and could not tell the truth."

Meanwhile, Lee has not yet ended his hunger strike, which began on the 1st, making it difficult for the trial to proceed properly for the time being. The trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act scheduled for the 22nd is also likely to be postponed. The first trial regarding the preferential treatment allegations in the Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town cases, which was scheduled for the same day, was postponed to the 6th of next month after the court accepted Lee’s side’s request for a delay.

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