Lee Jae-myung Detention Hearing Exceeds 6 Hours... Lee Actively Responds to Judge's Questions (Comprehensive)

The detention hearing (pre-arrest suspect interrogation) for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has exceeded six hours as of the afternoon of the 26th. Judge Yoo Chang-hoon, in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, began Lee's warrant hearing at 10:07 a.m. in courtroom 321 of the Seoul Central District Court and it is still ongoing.

The hearing is proceeding with the prosecution and defense presenting arguments on each case, including preferential treatment in the Baekhyeon-dong development project, remittance to North Korea by Ssangbangwool Group, and witness tampering. By around 12:40 p.m., about two and a half hours of arguments related to the Baekhyeon-dong case had taken place. Afterwards, there was a 40-minute recess for lunch and rest, during which Lee remained in the courtroom and reportedly consumed rice gruel brought from the hospital.

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@

From around 1:19 p.m. to 3:59 p.m., arguments regarding the North Korea remittance allegations were conducted. After a 15-minute break, the final remaining case of witness tampering is being examined.

The prosecution has characterized the cases involving Lee as "power-type local corruption" and "backward collusion between politics and business," emphasizing the gravity of the matter and concerns over evidence destruction, thus asserting that detention and investigation are unavoidable. They also presented 500 pages of presentation materials prepared for the hearing as evidence. Previously, the prosecution submitted an opinion document of about 1,500 pages to the court.

In response, Lee's defense team has reportedly completely denied any collusion with lobbyist Kim In-seop (detained and indicted) and former Ssangbangwool Group chairman Kim Seong-tae (detained and indicted), arguing that the charges constructed by the prosecution are fictitious. They also claimed that since Lee, as leader of the main opposition party, poses no flight risk, he should be investigated without detention.

Lee is said to have actively responded to Judge Yoo's questions. Lee's lawyer Park Gyun-taek told reporters during the recess, "When the judge asks questions, the lawyer answers, and (Lee) supplements the answers a bit," adding, "(His condition is) not good."

The warrant hearing is expected to continue late into the day. Once it concludes, Lee will be transferred to Seoul Detention Center to await the decision. The decision on detention is expected as early as that night or by the early morning of the 27th at the latest.

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