Lee Jae-myung, Party Leader, Appears for Detention Hearing Over 'Political Life'... Silent Response

The pre-trial detention hearing (warrant substantive examination) that determines the political fate of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, began at 10 a.m. on the 26th at the Seoul Central District Court.

Lee arrived at the court at around 10:03 a.m. that day. Having ended his hunger strike and while recovering, Lee appeared at the hearing walking on his own two feet, holding an umbrella with his left hand and a cane with his right. He did not respond to reporters' questions such as "How will you defend against the charge of instructing evidence destruction?" and "Is it true that you have been in contact with Kim In-seop after 2010?" but immediately entered the courtroom entrance.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who has been indicted on suspicion of preferential treatment in the Baekhyun-dong development project and involvement in Ssangbangwool's North Korea remittance allegations, is attending the pre-arrest detention hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 26th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The decision on whether to detain Lee, who is pointed to as the central figure in the allegations of 'special favors in Baekhyeon-dong development' and 'illegal remittance to North Korea,' will be made by Judge Yoo Chang-hoon, the judge in charge of warrants (age 50, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 29), who is presiding over the hearing.

Lee is accused of colluding with Jeong Jin-sang, then Policy Director of Seongnam City, from April 2014 to February 2017 when he was mayor of Seongnam, to grant various special favors to private developers during the construction of apartments on the former Korea Food Research Institute site in Baekhyeon-dong, Bundang-gu, resulting in a profit of 1,356 won and causing damage worth about 20 billion won to the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation. From 2019 to 2020, when he was governor of Gyeonggi Province, he is also accused of conspiring with Lee Hwa-young, former Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province, to have Kim Sung-tae, former chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, pay $8 million in North Korea on his behalf for his visit expenses. Additionally, in December 2018, he is accused of contacting Kim Jin-sung, former secretary to former Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang, and requesting false testimony favorable to him as a witness in a trial for false election campaign statements related to his 'impersonation of a prosecutor' case.

The prosecution teams from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigating the Baekhyeon-dong development special favors case and the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigating the illegal remittance case will jointly appear in court to explain the necessity of detention to Judge Yoo. They are expected to emphasize the high risk of 'evidence destruction.' It is reported that the prosecution has prepared a written opinion of about 1,500 pages to substantiate Lee's charges. During the hearing, they plan to present a condensed version of this in the form of several hundred PowerPoint (PPT) slides. Lee is known to have prepared a strategy to refute the prosecution's claims, led by lawyers Kim Jong-yeop and Lee Seung-yeop, both former senior judges of the Seoul High Court.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who has been indicted on suspicion of preferential treatment in the Baekhyun-dong development project and involvement in Ssangbangwool's North Korea remittance allegations, is attending the pre-arrest detention hearing at the Seoul Seocho High Court Central District Court on the 26th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

With intense confrontation expected between the prosecution and Lee's side, there is speculation that this hearing could set a record for the longest duration. The current longest record is 10 hours and 5 minutes during the hearing of Seo Hoon, former National Security Office chief, who was a key suspect in the 'West Sea public official shooting incident' in December last year. The legal community is also watching whether this hearing will surpass the 8 hours and 40 minutes of former President Park Geun-hye in March 2017 or the 8 hours and 30 minutes of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong in June 2020.

Whether Lee will be detained is expected to hinge on the court's judgment regarding the 'risk of evidence destruction.' In particular, the prosecution is likely to persuade the court by emphasizing Lee's past attempts to destroy evidence related to his charges or to instruct false testimony favorable to himself.

The prosecution is expected to highlight circumstances supporting concerns that Lee might destroy evidence or contaminate testimony related to his charges, including: ▲ instructing false testimony during his criminal trial in 2018 ▲ attempting to coordinate stories and intimidate or pressure public officials by claiming threats from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport related to the Baekhyeon-dong case ▲ making false claims about his relationship with Kim In-seop, former CEO of Korea Housing Technology and a broker in the Baekhyeon-dong project ▲ the leak of investigation and trial records by Democratic Party officials in the illegal remittance case ▲ causing Lee Hwa-young to retract his prosecution testimony that he reported the illegal remittance process to Lee.

There is also speculation that the prosecution may play in court audio recordings of Lee instructing false testimony and recordings of Democratic Party figures visiting Lee Hwa-young in detention, demanding handwritten letters during the visits.

The decision on Lee's detention is expected to be made as early as late afternoon on the same day or by early morning the next day.

If Lee's detention warrant is rejected on this day, it is likely to cause setbacks in the prosecution's investigation. Especially if the warrant is dismissed on grounds such as 'insufficient evidence to prove the crime' or 'possibility of disputing the charges,' the overall momentum of the investigation could significantly decline. Although the prosecution may conduct supplementary investigations and reapply for a warrant, it is more likely that the investigation will conclude with a non-detention indictment.

On the other hand, if the prosecution succeeds in securing Lee's custody, it will not only accelerate the remaining investigation against him but also favorably affect the maintenance of prosecution in previously indicted cases such as the Daejang-dong case.

From Lee's perspective, being detained this time would likely mean facing a situation where continuing his political career becomes nearly impossible. If the judiciary rules that 'the charges in the warrant are substantiated and there is a risk of evidence destruction,' it will be difficult to maintain the narrative of 'opposition suppression by the Yoon Seok-youl government prosecution.'

Within the Democratic Party, the pro-Lee faction believes that even if the warrant is issued, Lee will maintain his position as party leader and conduct 'prison nomination.' However, the prevailing view is that it is unrealistic for the party to fully bear the judicial risks of a leader who is on trial while detained due to personal corruption charges and to fight the general election under such circumstances.

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