Prosecutors Collect Large Volume of 'Lee Jae-myung Approval Documents,' Searching for Links

Seongnam City Hall Raided Four Times, Focus on Securing Documents from Information and Communication Department... Candidate Lee's Approval from Merger to Separation

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] It has been confirmed that the prosecution has secured a large number of documents approved by Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, related to the Daejang-dong development during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam. Some of these were disclosed through national audits or reports, but documents that had been separately managed by Seongnam City were also included. It is still being verified whether the documents containing the problematic 'excess profit recovery clause' were reported to Seongnam City in addition to the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation.

According to Seongnam City and the prosecution on the 21st, the dedicated investigation team of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has collected documents approved by candidate Lee during four rounds of raids on Seongnam City Hall starting from the 15th, examining the progress of the project at the time and the connections with key figures such as former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu.

On the 15th, the investigation team deployed more than 20 prosecutors and investigators to conduct comprehensive raids on the Urban Housing Bureau, Education, Culture and Sports Bureau, Cultural City Project Group, and Information and Communication Division of Seongnam City Hall. From the 18th, they conducted additional raids on the Information and Communication Division for three consecutive days, securing past approval documents and employees' email records.

Among these were documents sent by Seongnam Eutteul, the entity responsible for implementing the Daejang-dong development, designating the 'Seongnam Mayor' as the recipient. These include detailed development plans established after Seongnam Eutteul was selected as the project implementer, covering the initial combined development model of Daejang-dong, the process of excluding the 1st Industrial Complex, and subsequent plans.

The investigation team also confirmed securing documents in which Seongnam Eutteul requested separate development from the 1st Industrial Complex. The documents contain phrases such as "There is a risk of invalidation or suspension of the Daejang-dong project due to lawsuits from the 1st Industrial Complex, and serious concerns have arisen regarding the inability to procure project funds from financial institutions," and state that "the main content is a request to change the development plan to exclude the 1st Industrial Complex area from the main project zone." Since Seongnam City reportedly reported this wording as is to the Seongnam Mayor, this can be interpreted as candidate Lee being the final approver of the Daejang-dong development.

Documents containing the name of 'Hwacheon Daeyu,' which managed funds in the Daejang-dong development, are also under review. These are matters directly approved by candidate Lee, contradicting his statement that "I only learned of Hwacheon Daeyu's existence during the trial process."

However, the background for the omission of the 'excess profit recovery clause' is still being verified. The key issue is whether documents explicitly containing the term 'excess profit recovery' were reported to Seongnam City following the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation. So far, it is known that the excess profit recovery clause was only included in the draft business agreement between Seongnam Urban Development Corporation and Seongnam Eutteul.

Based on the secured documents, the investigation team plans to summon officials from Seongnam City Hall and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation to verify connections. However, the mayor's office, which was excluded from the raid and criticized for insufficient investigation, may not be examined going forward. A lawyer with a prosecution background stated, "Since the current Seongnam mayor has been in office for over two years, searching the current mayor's office is a sensitive matter," adding, "It is a natural step to focus on the Information and Communication Division, which manages backups such as electronic approvals."