Prosecutor's Questions Replaced by Statements... Denial of Charges Violating 'Breach of Trust and Anti-Corruption Act'
"Ignoring Objective Evidence, Inconsistent Testimonies Do Not Convince That It Is My Property"
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is currently under investigation by the prosecution over the ‘Daejang-dong related allegations,’ stated in his prosecution testimony that "the allegation that Cheonhwa-dongin No. 1 belongs to me is an absurd and slanderous claim."
On the 28th, Lee appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and, in a 33-page statement, completely denied the charges of breach of trust applied to him and declared that he would respond to all prosecution questions through his written testimony.
The prosecution believes that Lee provided preferential treatment to private contractors, resulting in illicit gains of 788.6 billion KRW from the Daejang-dong project and 21.1 billion KRW from the Wirye New Town project.
Additionally, the prosecution suspects that the development profits allocated to private contractors flowed to Lee’s side. It is alleged that, as compensation for granting preferential treatment in the development projects, a portion of the private contractors’ profits was shared with Lee.
There is growing weight to the analysis that the statement by Kim Man-bae, the actual owner of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, a private contractor who led the development project, saying "Cheonhwa-dongin No. 1 belongs to that person," was made with Lee in mind.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking as he appears at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 28th to undergo prosecution investigation related to the Daejang-dong development preferential treatment allegations. Lee is accused of leaking internal secrets of Seongnam City or Seongnam Urban Development Corporation to private developers as the final decision-maker of the Wirye and Daejang-dong development projects during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam, enabling them to gain enormous profits. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
In response, Lee stated in his testimony, "I did not even know of the existence of Cheonhwa-dongin No. 1 until before the media reports," and claimed, "All beneficiaries, including Cheonhwa-dongin No. 1, were incorporated through a specific monetary trust by SK Securities, which I could not have known about."
He continued, "The prosecution is fully aware of Cheonhwa-dongin No. 1’s financial status and additional profit recovery, so ignoring such objective evidence and claiming it belongs to me based on the reversed testimonies of the Daejang-dong group is utterly unacceptable."
Lee also completely denied the breach of trust charges, explaining, "I did not cause losses to the city for the benefit of speculative forces; rather, I imposed an additional burden of 112 billion KRW on private contractors, causing them losses, and secured greater profits for the city and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation."
Furthermore, Lee reiterated his claim that the Daejang-dong project was initially pursued as a public development but was scrapped due to opposition from the Saenuri Party (now the People Power Party) within the Seongnam City Council, after which it was changed to a public-private joint development method, allowing some recovery of development profits.
Additionally, Lee argued that apartment sales profits should be excluded when distributing the profits from the Daejang-dong development project because apartment sales are not within the corporation’s duties. He stated, "Apartment sales profits should be excluded," adding, "The corporation was entrusted by Seongnam City and approved by the Seongnam City Council for the Daejang-dong land development project, not the apartment sales project. Questioning why the corporation did not engage in apartment sales is political, not investigative."
Lee denied all charges of violating the Anti-Corruption Act, asserting that he did not provide confidential information to the Daejang-dong group. He explained, "According to media reports, it is speculated that I provided confidential information to the Daejang-dong group or approved Yoo Dong-gyu (former head of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation) providing it. However, Yoo Dong-gyu had no reason or need to inform me, the mayor, of his criminal acts while committing them."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
