Kim Seong-tae to be extradited on the 17th: "Never met Lee Jae-myung... Haven't even called"

"Money Sent to North Korea Was Personal, Not Company Funds"
"Decided to Return Due to Poor Investigation and Family Circumstances"

Former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Sung-tae KBS Interview Content. / Image Source=KBS News

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] On the 15th, former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae, who is scheduled to be repatriated to South Korea on the 17th, stated that he has never met or spoken on the phone with Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party.

In an interview with KBS on the 15th, when asked about his relationship with Lee, Kim said, "There was no opportunity to meet, nor any reason to meet. Why would I meet that person?" He added, "Because of Lee Jae-myung, my life has been completely devastated..."

When asked if he had ever spoken on the phone with Lee, he replied, "No, I have not."

Kim is suspected of having paid large legal fees on behalf of the lawyers handling Lee’s violation of the Public Official Election Act case in 2018, when Lee was governor of Gyeonggi Province, through Ssangbangwool Group’s convertible bonds, but his answers appear to deny all such allegations.

Regarding allegations of remittances to North Korea, he said, "At that time, many Korean companies were trying to do business in Dandong and Shenyang, China," adding, "I did not give a single won of company money; I used my personal money, so it was my own money that I lost, not company money."

The North Korea remittance allegations claim that Ssangbangwool smuggled out $6.4 million (about 7.2 billion won at the time) to China around 2019 with dozens of employees and then delivered it to the North.

When asked if he admits to any charges such as embezzlement or breach of trust, he said, "I don’t think I caused any damage to the company, but I will explain myself to the prosecution. I will take responsibility where I must."

When asked if he admits to some breach of trust charges, he replied, "I don’t think I committed breach of trust, but there are various circumstances. Anyway, if I did wrong during the prosecution’s investigation, I should be punished. I believe I am innocent, and the truth will come out later."

When asked why he decided to return to Korea after being arrested, Kim said, "The investigation environment and my family’s situation are very bad right now, so I want to go in and tell the truth as it is..."

When asked what he meant by his family being in difficulty, he said, "My younger brother (Vice Chairman Kim) seems to have had an arrest warrant issued, my sister’s husband (Kim, Head of Ssangbangwool’s Finance Division) is in a prison in Pattaya, Thailand, and my cousin Yang Seon-gil was arrested with me, so our family is completely devastated."

Kim currently has an arrest warrant issued on charges including embezzlement and breach of trust, and is suspected of various corruptions surrounding Ssangbangwool Group such as violations of the Capital Markets Act, bribery, evidence tampering, and violations of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.

After leaving for Singapore ahead of a prosecution raid at the end of May last year, he entered Thailand at the end of July the same year and lived in hiding. On the 10th, he was arrested with Chairman Yang Seon-gil at a golf course in Pathum Thani, Thailand.

Kim is scheduled to be repatriated to South Korea on the morning of the 17th.