Lee Jung-geun "Lee Seong-man and others, once comrades, falsely accused me... The key mastermind is Kang Rae-gu"

Former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, Lee Jeong-geun, expressed feelings of betrayal in court, claiming that Representative Lee Seong-man and others gave false interviews suggesting that he was the one who first demanded money during the prosecution's investigation into the 'money envelope distribution' allegations.

Lee Jung-geun, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party [Photo by Yonhap News]

Lee appeared as a witness at the trial of the Democratic Party's money envelope scandal held on the 23rd at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21-2 (Presiding Judges Kim Jeong-gon, Kim Mi-kyung, and Heo Gyeong-mu) and made these remarks.

The prosecution presented multiple call recordings from around March 2021 in court, pointing out that although Lee was officially the head of the organization headquarters for Song Young-gil's campaign, he was effectively following the instructions of Kang Rae-gu, former Standing Auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation, who was outside the campaign.

The recordings reveal that Kang specifically mentioned individuals involved in the campaign's organization and activities, outlining the structure. Kang even referred to Lee as his 'avatar.'

Lee agreed with the prosecution's claims, stating, "At first, I did not intend to be the head of the organization headquarters, but since he promised to support me from behind, I received instructions one by one from Auditor Kang Rae-gu." He also testified that this was discussed in advance with then-candidate Song Young-gil.

In a recording from March 5, 2021, Kang suggested to Lee that money was needed and named key financial backers, instructing him to persuade them by saying things like, 'Brother, you should also contribute money, at least for the meal expenses.'

Regarding this, Lee said, "During the prosecution's search and seizure, Auditor Kang Rae-gu, Representative Lee Seong-man, and former Incheon City Political Deputy Mayor Jo Taek-sang stated in media interviews that 'Lee Jeong-geun was whining, saying he had no money for meals and asking for money.'" He added, "We were once comrades, but they all suddenly turned on me with personal attacks as if they had conspired."

He continued, "It is human nature to want to minimize one's guilt and deny wrongdoing, but I want to hold them accountable for their sudden change in attitude overnight," expressing his frustration.

He also claimed, "During the confrontation investigation with Auditor Kang Rae-gu and the prosecution, I was apologized to for the fact that I did not first demand money, despite such interviews being made." He added, "I want to show this recording to Lee Seong-man and Jo Taek-sang and receive apologies from them as well."

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