[Kim Man-bae Gate Prequel] ① Suburban Boy from Suwon Reaches Out to Seocho-dong

Editor's NoteKim Man-bae (58) is at the very core of the Daejang-dong scandal. The prosecution, courts, and political circles are all paying close attention to his words. Kim Man-bae's official profession was a journalist. He started as a reporter in 1992 and was working as a deputy bureau chief-level reporter at an economic newspaper when the Daejang-dong scandal broke out. How was Kim Man-bae able to lead a double life as a journalist while simultaneously managing a real estate development business handling billions of won? To answer this question, we investigated Kim Man-bae’s activities before entering the development business and his actions leading up to his involvement in the Daejang-dong project rights.

'Seocho-dong Manbae-hyung' ? The Kim Man-bae Known in Seocho-dong

Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, who has been indicted on charges of bribery, is attending the first trial sentencing hearing related to the Daejang-dong development project lobbying and preferential treatment allegations at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu on the afternoon of the 8th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Kim Man-bae joined Ilgan Sports as an editorial reporter in 1992, then moved to Newsis, and eventually served as deputy bureau chief at Money Today. He spent more than half of his journalism career in Seocho-dong. As the head of the legal affairs team in the social department at Money Today, he covered major legal institutions such as the Supreme Court and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office for 15 years.

He was known as 'Manbae-hyung' in Seocho-dong. Behind this nickname was his extraordinary wealth. Even now, stories that hint at his spending habits are passed around like anecdotes in Seocho-dong. Phrases like "There was no reporter who Kim Man-bae didn’t buy meals for at their beats," and "He even gave pocket money to junior reporters" are still frequently recalled among legal reporters. This implies that he was remarkably generous with money.

Recent media reports about allegations of financial transactions with media figures also suggest Kim Man-bae’s wealth. The journalists involved reportedly borrowed from him amounts ranging from 100 million won to as much as 900 million won. All were cases of borrowing money from Kim Man-bae, which also indicates that he was known as a ‘rich journalist.’ There are also stories that Kim Man-bae wielded considerable influence among the legal press corps based on this wealth. Although there was officially a secretary responsible for general affairs in the press corps, Kim Man-bae reportedly acted as the ‘leader’ above that position.

Kim Man-bae began to attract public attention around September 2021. On the 27th of that month, he appeared at the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul. Legally, he was a witness. The police summoned him because he had borrowed money from a company, but the purpose of the funds was unclear. The amount borrowed exceeded common sense for an ordinary person ? hundreds of billions of won, an amount no journalist would typically handle. The investigators sought answers here regarding suspicions of corruption in the Seongnam Daejang-dong development project. Kim Man-bae was a journalist and also a major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, the project’s development company.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Fifteen days later, the prosecution summoned him again. They suspected that a significant portion of the borrowed money was used as bribes to political and legal figures. When Kim Man-bae completely denied these allegations during the investigation, the prosecution requested an arrest warrant. However, the court dismissed the warrant on October 14 of that year.

The moment he was released from the detention center where he had been held, an incident occurred that allowed speculation about how he spent money in Seocho-dong. Before arrest, suspects are held in detention until the results of the warrant hearing are announced. During this time, personal belongings are kept at the detention center and returned upon release. When Kim Man-bae’s arrest warrant was dismissed, he received his belongings back. At that moment, he reportedly took cash from his wallet and handed it to a correctional officer as snack money. The amount was again beyond common sense ? a whopping 1.65 million won.

In Seocho-dong, many attribute Kim Man-bae’s wealth to a prosperous family background. Rumors were widespread that his father was a well-known real estate developer in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. Among journalists, there was even talk that Kim Man-bae treated journalism as a hobby, given that he drove luxury foreign cars. The number of articles he wrote during his time as a legal reporter supports this. Compared to ordinary reporters, he wrote significantly fewer articles. In fact, from April 2012, when he entered the Daejang-dong development project, until the end of the following year ? about 20 months ? he wrote only five articles.

Imok-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi, where Kim Man-bae's family home was located. This area has undergone development projects, making it difficult to find traces of its past appearance today.

Different in Suwon... 'Tadpole Days' of Kim Man-bae

In Suwon, stories about his wealth and family background were completely different. Asia Economy investigated the area of Imok-dong (formerly Imok-ri) in Jangan-gu, Suwon, where Kim Man-bae’s family home was located, and interviewed neighboring residents. They said his father worked as a carpenter, not a developer. The family was not well-off. One resident who lived in Imok-ri at the time said, "(Kim Man-bae’s family) was not a wealthy household," adding, "They just lived in a single house." It is explained that Kim Man-bae spent his childhood and school years in this environment.

The family’s financial situation is also reflected in the characteristics of the village. Imok-ri was located at the northwestern edge of Suwon. It was considered a remote rural area. A citizen who had lived in Suwon since 1970 recalled, "Only about 20 years ago, Imok-ri was mostly vineyards and strawberry fields," and "A few people ran shops or farmed, forming a small village." Twenty years ago corresponds to the period when large parts of Suwon were developed with housing complexes like Yeongtong and Jeongja. Even then, Imok-ri, where Kim Man-bae lived, remained rural.

It was difficult to find the source of rumors that Kim Man-bae’s father was involved in real estate development. Although the possibility that he quit carpentry and entered real estate development was considered, the construction industry in Suwon responded with ‘never heard of it.’ A businessman who had been in the construction industry in Suwon for over 50 years said, "The construction market in Suwon was small enough that everyone knew each other," and "If a carpenter had succeeded in real estate development, the rumor would have spread, but I have never heard such a story."

At that time, Kim Man-bae was reportedly a completely different person from the Seocho-dong Kim Man-bae. Despite later handing 1.65 million won to a correctional officer as snack money, he was once in a position of borrowing about 1 million won. A high school classmate of Kim Man-bae said that Kim borrowed about 1 million won several times and repaid it repeatedly. This classmate is currently known to have lost contact with Kim Man-bae.

The area around Imok-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi Province has been transformed into a large-scale apartment complex through a development project. H Apartment is located on the site of Kim Man-bae's family home, and S Apartment is where he lived.

Kim Man-bae also worked as a journalist in Suwon. Again, this was far from the Seocho-dong Kim Man-bae. While working as an editorial reporter at Ilgan Sports, he moved in 2002 to the metropolitan headquarters of Newsis, a newly established private news agency, through an introduction by an acquaintance. This was when he took his first steps as a reporting journalist. A person who worked with Kim Man-bae at Newsis recalled, "He was a friend who wanted to try being a social affairs reporter," adding, "He had only worked as an editorial reporter, so his reporting skills were poor, and his articles were quite bad." He continued, "How could he have had any influence if he couldn’t write articles? I remember he quit in less than two years because he was so bad at the job."

Kim Man-bae’s minimal presence at the time is also reflected in other testimonies. A local journalist who graduated from Suwon Suseong High School with Kim Man-bae said, "After starting his journalism career at Newsis, Kim Man-bae came to the Suwon regional press alumni meeting only once," adding, "By then, many senior and junior reporters had already established themselves as fixtures in the local scene, and Kim seemed to feel excluded, so he never came again." It is also said that his influence at his beats was not significant. B, who was part of the Suwon legal press corps at the time, said, "I have no memory of Kim Man-bae at the beat." C, a former high-ranking public official in Gyeonggi Province, said, "He was so inactive that it’s hard to find the number of articles he wrote," and "He was a reporter who hardly wrote any articles."

However, even during his peripheral and marginal journalism career in Suwon, the seeds of the Seocho-dong Kim Man-bae were clearly present. He was said to be sociable. A, who covered legal affairs in Suwon with him at the time, said, "Kim would greet chief prosecutors even if he didn’t know them," adding, "One chief prosecutor even praised him to me, saying, ‘What kind of guy is this?’" It is also said that the connections formed during this time included former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do, who was tried over the ‘Daejang-dong 5 billion won club’ controversy. Kwak was the head of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office special investigations division at the time. Kwak is an alumnus of Sungkyunkwan University, the same as Kim Man-bae, who majored in Eastern Philosophy and entered in 1984.

However, Kwak, who was indicted on charges of receiving about 5 billion won (2.5 billion won after tax deduction) through his son as a reward for assisting the Daejang-dong group, was acquitted in the first trial on the 8th. The prosecution said it found the verdict difficult to accept and decided to appeal.

Special Investigation Team