[News Terms] Lee Jae-myung's Close Associate Jeong Jin-sang's Detention Maintained... What Is Detention Review?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] The detention review petition of Jeong Jinsang, the Political Coordination Officer of the Office of the Democratic Party leader and a close aide to Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea who was detained on charges including bribery, was dismissed on the 24th. A detention review petition is a procedure in which a detained suspect requests the court to re-examine the legality and justification of the detention.

Jeong was detained on the 19th on charges of receiving 140 million won in bribes from the so-called 'Daejang-dong gang' related to preferential treatment allegations in the Daejang-dong development project and agreeing to share 42.8 billion won in development profits from Daejang-dong.

Jeong filed a detention review petition on the 21st, two days after his detention, requesting the court to reconsider the legality of his detention. However, after conducting a detention review hearing for about six hours on the 23rd, the court dismissed Jeong’s petition, stating that "there is no reason for release." Thus, Jeong’s detention was maintained.

A detention review petition is filed by a suspect before indictment after an arrest warrant is issued, which differs from bail filed after indictment. The bail system allows a detained and indicted suspect to be released upon the court receiving a certain amount of bail money.

The detention review petition is filed by a suspect detained before indictment, and the court must reach a decision within 24 hours after the detention review hearing concludes. If the court accepts the detention review petition, the prosecution must immediately release the suspect. However, release does not mean the charges are dropped, and the suspect continues to be investigated while not in detention.

Meanwhile, the prosecution can investigate a detained suspect for up to 20 days. Accordingly, it is expected that the prosecution will indict Jeong before December 8.