Lee Jae-myung, Second Appearance on 'Wirye·Daejang-dong Allegations' "Era of Guilty Without Evidence and Innocent Without Investigation" (Comprehensive)

by Kim HyeongMin

Published 10 Feb.2023 12:19(KST)

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is under suspicion of breach of trust related to preferential treatment allegations in the Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town development projects, is appearing at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 10th as a suspect. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office for a second investigation related to the Wirye New Town and Daejang-dong development corruption case.

Lee arrived at the East Gate of the prosecution building at around 11:22 a.m. on the 10th. He waved to supporters from inside the moving vehicle. He was about 1 hour and 50 minutes late compared to the initially requested time of 9:30 a.m. by the prosecution. Due to traffic congestion and other factors, he arrived past the 11 a.m. time his side had announced.

Before entering the building, Lee stood at the photo line and said, "It is an era of 'guilty without evidence, innocent with evidence,'" adding, "Even after the summons, which was delayed and caused controversy over additional investigations, no credible evidence of Daejang-dong breach of trust has emerged except for changed testimonies from desperate people manipulated by the prosecution." He also criticized, "While the regime indifferent to people's livelihood is mobilizing political prosecutors to kill political opponents and erase the previous administration, cries of distress are growing everywhere."

When asked by reporters whether the development project was impossible without his approval, he replied, "The sky knows and the people are watching that the prosecution is acting as a henchman of the regime, fabricating nonexistent cases." He did not respond to questions regarding the charges against his already detained aides Jeong Jin-sang and Kim Yong and headed to the investigation room.

The investigation began in the video recording interrogation room on the 6th floor. From Lee’s side, lawyer Kim Jin-hyung of the law firm Garosu participated, while from the prosecution side, prosecutors Jeong Il-kwon from the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 and Deputy Chief Prosecutor Nam Dae-ju from Division 3 took part.

The investigation, including the review of the interrogation record, is expected to conclude by midnight. The prosecution plans to complete all questioning during this session if possible.

At the East and West gates of the Seocho-dong building where Lee appeared, both supporting and opposing groups gathered from early morning to hold rallies. Due to the weekday and bad weather, the number of attendees was smaller than during his first appearance on a holiday.

Lee is accused of leaking internal secrets of Seongnam City or Seongnam Urban Development Corporation to private developers through aides such as former Seongnam Mayor’s Policy Secretary Jeong Jin-sang during the Wirye and Daejang-dong development projects from 2010 to 2018 when he served as Seongnam Mayor, thereby enabling them to gain huge profits (violation of the Anti-Corruption Act). He is also charged with breach of duty for causing Seongnam City significant financial damage by finalizing the removal of the excess profit recovery clause, resulting in no additional profits beyond the confirmed 182.2 billion KRW.

The prosecution views that private developers gained unfair profits of 788.6 billion KRW from the Daejang-dong project and 21.1 billion KRW from the Wirye New Town project. The Seongnam City side bore huge losses equivalent to the profits earned by the private companies in the Daejang-dong project.

The prosecution believes that Lee, as Seongnam Mayor, approved or tacitly allowed the leak of confidential information by his aides and, in return, received various election support and funds from private developers through former Secretary Jeong.

Lee appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 28th of last month and appeared for the second time on this day, 13 days later. Including the investigation on the 10th of last month at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch regarding the 'Seongnam FC sponsorship fund suspicion,' this is his third appearance before the prosecution.