Na Kyung-won on Lee Jae-myung's Indictment: "The Ultimate Case of Illegal North Korea Remittance"

"Lee Jae-myung Representative Seems to Have Revealed a Bottom-Level Creativity"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 12th, Na Kyung-won, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the prosecution's indictment of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the so-called 'North Korea remittance charges,' saying, "If former Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young is the errand runner, then Lee Jae-myung is closer to the architect and commander."

On the same day, Na posted on Facebook, "Today, Lee Jae-myung was additionally indicted. This is a natural, or perhaps belated, step following the first trial verdict of former Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young."

He argued, "Common sense tells us who the ultimate mastermind behind this illegal North Korea remittance case is. Former Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young is merely a channel. There is not even a 0.001% chance that Kim Seong-tae of Ssangbangwool sent that huge amount of money after seeing Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young."

He further emphasized that if the first trial verdict of Lee Hwa-young reflects the substantive truth, then Lee Jae-myung’s culpability is even more severe than that of Vice Governor Lee. Na stated, "Simply put, if Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young is the errand runner, then Lee Jae-myung is closer to the architect and commander."

There was also criticism directed at the opposition party. He said, "It seems that the organized judicial obstruction by Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party will intensify," adding, "Feeling uneasy about the first trial verdict of Lee Hwa-young, Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party have unleashed all kinds of slanders." He continued, "I worry about how much they will harass the second trial court, leveraging their majority power," emphasizing, "Intimidation of judges is a challenge to the rule of law and a betrayal of the people."

He also said, "The People Power Party must join forces with the government to protect the independence and autonomy of the judiciary, as well as the judges’ conviction and conscience," adding, "Now, Lee Jae-myung faces trials on seven cases and eleven charges. It seems that Lee Jae-myung’s level of fabrication has finally been exposed."

Meanwhile, on the same day, the prosecution indicted Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, in connection with the Ssangbangwool Group’s North Korea remittance case. This came five days after the first trial verdict found that former Gyeonggi Province Peace Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young was deeply involved in Ssangbangwool Group’s sending money to North Korea, and the indictment was submitted to the court.

The first trial court acknowledged that Lee Jae-myung and former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae had two phone calls. However, Lee Jae-myung consistently denied any connection with Kim, saying, "I only bought one undershirt," referring to his ties with Ssangbangwool.

The prosecution regarded the $5 million for Gyeonggi Province’s smart farm project and the $3 million for North Korea visit expenses as bribes paid by a third party. This is interpreted as meaning that then-Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung had Ssangbangwool Group pay bribes to North Korea on his behalf.

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