Lee Jae-myung Newspaper Records 199 Pages... Prosecution "Will Compress Investigation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] When Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, claimed on the 28th during his summons investigation that "the prosecution deliberately delayed the investigation," there was a rebuttal within the prosecution stating that the investigation was conducted "in a compressed manner."

According to the legal community on the 30th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun) and Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigated Lee for about 12 and a half hours on the 28th and reportedly prepared 199 pages of suspect interrogation records.

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@

The records accumulated as the prosecution expedited and compressed the investigation. Since the Wirye and Daejang-dong projects spanned over 10 years, there were many points to verify with Lee, but his side indicated they would not cooperate with additional investigations, leading the prosecution to compress and accelerate the originally planned investigation content. In particular, Lee repeatedly responded to prosecutors' questions with "I will substitute with a written statement," which sped up the work of prosecutors and investigators.

Despite the compression, 199 pages is a considerable amount compared to past important suspects. Former President Park Geun-hye appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on March 21, 2017, for about 11 hours and 20 minutes (excluding meal and record review time) in the state affairs manipulation case. The interrogation records prepared then totaled 112 pages. In the case of the Daejang-dong gang, the prosecution interrogated Kim Man-bae, major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, for about 8 hours and 10 minutes on October 11, 2021, and prepared 104 pages of records. Nam Wook was investigated for about 10 hours and 50 minutes on the 18th of the same month, with 91 pages of interrogation records prepared.

Lee stated on the day that he would "comply with the prosecution's second summons request." The weekend seems more likely than weekdays. Since the prosecution plans to continue questioning Lee on the unconfirmed allegations related to the Wirye and Daejang-dong development corruption, the volume of suspect interrogation records is expected to increase further.