[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution is expected to focus exclusively on the 'Seongnam FC sponsorship fund' case during the summons investigation of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, which is likely to take place next week, excluding other suspicions.
According to the legal community on the 6th, only the Criminal Division 3 of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch (Chief Prosecutor Yoo Min-jong) will enter the investigation room during Lee's summons investigation scheduled between the 10th and 12th. Regarding the possibility of a joint investigation with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team, which is investigating the 'Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town development corruption' suspicions, a legal community official told this publication, "There are many matters to verify solely with the Seongnam FC suspicions." A Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office official also drew a clear line, stating, "This summons is related to the case being investigated by the Seongnam Branch."
This contrasts with the summons notice given to Lee last September. At that time, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office attempted to conduct a joint investigation in cooperation with the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch, which was investigating false information disclosure charges related to the 'Baekhyeon-dong preferential treatment suspicion,' by summoning Lee on charges of false information disclosure. However, it failed as Lee only submitted written responses and did not comply with the summons.
Regarding the Seongnam FC sponsorship fund, the prosecution is expected to verify with Lee the process through which he helped resolve major issues for each company, as well as whether there was bribery or solicitation. Through this, they will gauge whether the charge of third-party bribery can be established. The prosecution believes that about six companies provided bribes by sponsoring Seongnam FC, owned by Seongnam City, in exchange for resolving their issues.
Considering that the prosecution will investigate Lee based on the contents investigated for each company, it is expected that there will be many questions and the investigation time will be extended. In particular, there has been extensive investigation regarding Doosan Construction. Doosan Construction is suspected of having received conveniences such as land-use changes for a hospital site in Jeongja-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam City, owned by the Doosan Group, after paying approximately 5 billion KRW in sponsorship funds. There is also circumstantial evidence that Lee Jae-myung, during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam, directly handled the Doosan Construction case. The construction of a new office building in Bundang-gu was a long-standing wish of Doosan Construction, and the prosecution's conclusion is that Seongnam City used this to receive bribes and approved the land-use change, which had previously been continuously denied. The prosecution already sent former Doosan Construction CEO Mr. A and former Seongnam City Strategic Promotion Team Leader Mr. B to trial on September 30 last year.
During the investigation, a fierce legal battle is expected between both sides. While the prosecution is confident in the charges against Lee, it is reported that Lee's side is preparing for the summons by assembling a powerful legal team. In particular, attention was drawn recently as former Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office Chief Park Gyun-taek joined Lee's legal team. They brought in a former high-ranking prosecution official as a lawyer to counter the prosecution's investigation. Until then, Lee had been responding to judicial risks by leading with Kim Jong-geun, LKB's chief lawyer, who is a judicial training institute classmate and former Seoul High Court presiding judge.
Meanwhile, Lee's side and the prosecution are expected to finalize the summons date on the 8th or 9th, when the official schedule for next week is decided. It is known that the date has not yet been finalized as of this morning, following Lee's side's response to the prosecution that they can comply with the summons investigation between the 10th and 12th.
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