‘Daejangdong Bribery’ Lee Jae-myung’s Closest Aide Kim Yong Sentenced to 5 Years... Credibility of ‘Yoo Dong-gyu’s Testimony’ Recognized (Comprehensive)

Court: "Statements made under desperate circumstances should not be uniformly rejected"... Yudonggyu and Jeong Min-yong acquitted, Namuk sentenced to 8 months imprisonment
Judges: "Collusion between local governments and private contractors is a 'corruption crime'... Mockery of local self-governance democracy"

Kim Yong, former deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute and a close aide to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was indicted on charges of receiving illegal election funds and bribes from private developers involved in the Daejang-dong project, was sentenced to prison and taken into custody in the first trial. This ruling is the court's first judgment related to the Daejang-dong development corruption case, and since the court recognized the credibility of the testimony of Yoo Dong-gyu, former planning director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation who was deeply involved in the Daejang-dong development project, it is expected to have a significant impact on Lee’s related trial.

Former Deputy Director Kim Yong of the Democratic Research Institute, who was indicted on charges of receiving illegal election funds and bribes from a private developer in Daejang-dong, is attending the first trial sentencing hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 30th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 23 (Presiding Judge Jo Byung-gu) sentenced former deputy director Kim to five years in prison on the 30th for violating the Political Funds Act and bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, and ordered his immediate detention. The court also imposed a fine of 70 million won and confiscation of 670 million won. Yoo, the former director, and lawyer Jeong Min-yong, who were also indicted, were acquitted, while lawyer Nam Wook was sentenced to eight months in prison.

The court criticized, "Kim, a local council member who should perform the duty of checking illegalities by local governments, and Yoo, the former director of the affiliated corporation overseeing local government development projects, engaged in a series of corrupt crimes that severely damaged public trust by colluding with private developers over a long period through project bidding participation and permits related to large-scale real estate development in Seongnam City."

It continued, "The corporation became a channel for private developers' intervention in interests, and a significant portion of the development profits that should have gone to local residents and the public ended up with private developers. Kim, Yoo, and others politically exploited their collusion with private developers by using negative reports about the opposing candidate shortly before the mayoral election. This deep-rooted corruption between private developers and local government officials involved in development permits mocks local democracy and seriously undermines residents' interests and the public nature of local administration."

Kim is accused of conspiring with Yoo and others around the time of the party’s presidential primary from April to August last year to receive 847 million won in four installments from Mr. Nam as presidential election funds. He is also charged with receiving a total of 190 million won in four installments from Yoo between February 2013 and April 2014 while serving as a standing member of the Seongnam City Council’s Urban Construction Committee, in exchange for facilitating the establishment of the corporation and the Daejang-dong development project.

The court partially acknowledged the credibility of Yoo’s testimony. It stated, "Yoo’s intention to escape a desperate situation may have influenced his change of stance and testimony, but the credibility of the testimony should not be uniformly rejected based on his intention to escape hardship or the defendant’s claims about his character. It must be evaluated specifically and individually by checking whether the main parts align with other evidence."

The court found Yoo’s testimony credible that he provided 600 million won to Kim as presidential election funds. The court noted that testimonies stating that Mr. Jeong and Mr. Nam saw Kim receiving the funds or heard his voice demanding money over a cellphone speakerphone included detailed descriptions that would be difficult to fabricate without direct experience, thus recognizing their credibility.

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