Lee Jae-myung, Party Leader, to Appear Before Prosecution Today... Will Address Standing at Photo Line

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 9th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, will appear before the prosecution on the 10th in connection with the 'Seongnam FC Sponsorship Fund' case.

The Criminal Division 3 of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch (Chief Prosecutor Yoo Min-jong) will summon Lee as a suspect on charges including bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (third-party bribery) related to the 'Seongnam FC Sponsorship Fund' allegations, starting at 10:30 a.m. that day.

Lee is expected to come to the prosecution along with some members of the Democratic Party leadership and lawmakers, and will express his position on the investigation before entering the prosecution building.

Ahead of Lee's appearance at the prosecution, it is reported that a large number of members from progressive civic groups supporting Lee, such as the Democratic Citizens Candlelight Coalition, and conservative civic groups holding counter-demonstrations will gather, prompting the police to deploy about 900 officers from 12 companies to maintain order at the scene.

According to the reporting guidelines established during the Moon Jae-in administration, filming or live broadcasting of any part of the investigation process, including the appearance of suspects or related parties, is prohibited. Heads of prosecution offices at all levels may take measures to protect portrait rights, such as restricting the installation of photo lines within the prosecution office.

However, since Lee himself has decided to make a statement before the investigation this time, it is expected that he will stand in front of the photo line after securing safety through the police's order maintenance line.

Members of progressive and conservative civic groups are gathering around the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch in Dandae-dong, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, where Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is scheduled to appear.
Photo by Kim Daehyun

The prosecution, which finalized the questions for Lee over the past weekend and the previous day, is known to have Chief Prosecutor Yoo personally participate in the investigation. On Lee's side, it is reported that Park Gyun-taek, former head of the Ministry of Justice's Prosecutor's Office and former chief prosecutor of the Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office during the Moon Jae-in administration, will attend the investigation.

The prosecution is expected to focus on whether there was a quid pro quo relationship between the resolution of corporate issues and the sponsorship funds, based on statements from corporate officials who donated sponsorships, Seongnam city officials investigated so far, and physical evidence secured during searches.

Since there is a burden in summoning Lee for a second investigation, the investigation team’s task is to discredit the credibility of Lee’s statements through concentrated questioning in this single session.

Considering the time needed for Lee’s side to review the interrogation record after the investigation, there is also a possibility that, with Lee’s consent, the investigation may extend past midnight.

The 'Seongnam FC Sponsorship Fund' allegations center on the claim that Lee, while serving as mayor of Seongnam and as the club owner of Seongnam FC, secured sponsorship funds amounting to hundreds of millions to billions of Korean won from companies in exchange for resolving their corporate issues.

In fact, after the Seongnam Ilhwa football team was transformed into the citizen football team Seongnam FC and Lee became the club owner, six companies located in Seongnam?Doosan Construction, Naver, Nonghyup Bank, Bundang CHA Hospital, Hyundai Department Store, and Alphadom City?provided a total of approximately 16 billion KRW in sponsorship and advertising fees to Seongnam FC from 2015 to 2017.

The prosecution views these sponsorship funds, ranging from several hundred million to several billion KRW, as payments made in exchange for resolving various permits and civil complaints, which Lee, as the mayor of Seongnam at the time, had authority over. For example, Doosan Construction gained huge profits by having the land (3,000 pyeong) for a general hospital in Jeongja-dong, Bundang-gu, rezoned as commercial land in November 2015. Other companies also had their issues resolved, such as building permits for a second office (Naver), extension of Seongnam city’s treasury contract (Nonghyup Bank), and land use changes for the Bundang Police Station site (CHA Hospital), which the prosecution sees as quid pro quo for the sponsorship funds.

Meanwhile, for the third-party bribery charge to be established, an 'improper solicitation'?which is not necessary for bribery charges?must be recognized. However, the Supreme Court holds the position that the 'improper solicitation' required for third-party bribery does not necessarily have to be illegal or unfair, but if the solicitation connects the execution of official duties with a quid pro quo and involves the delivery of a reward related to that duty, it qualifies as an 'improper solicitation.'

Ultimately, the key point determining the establishment of third-party bribery charges is whether there was mutual recognition and understanding between Lee and the sponsoring companies that the sponsorship funds were donations in exchange for resolving their issues.

It is still unknown whether the prosecution will take custody measures against Lee after the investigation or consider indicting him without detention.

According to the prosecution’s judgment, the amount involved in the Seongnam FC case is large enough to justify requesting an arrest warrant solely based on this case. However, as seen in the case of Democratic Party lawmaker Roh Woong-rae, it is practically difficult to pass a consent for arrest.

The Daejang-dong case, currently under investigation by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, is also awaiting only Lee’s investigation. It remains to be seen whether the prosecution will conclude the Seongnam FC case first and then start the Daejang-dong investigation, or conduct investigations into both cases consecutively and proceed with judicial measures around the same time.