Prosecutors Conduct Raids on Over 10 Locations Including Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office Over 'Funds Transfer to North Korea' Allegations

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] In connection with the allegations of 'North Korea remittance' involving Ssangbangwool Group, the prosecution is conducting a search and seizure at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office, where former Gyeonggi-do Peace Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young worked, on the 22nd.

Lee Hwa-young, CEO of Kintex (former Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province), who is accused of receiving bribes worth hundreds of millions of won from Ssangbangwool Group, is entering the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office building on the morning of September 27 last year to attend the pre-arrest warrant hearing (pre-arrest suspect interrogation) held at the Suwon District Court in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the legal community, the Criminal Division 6 of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-nam) sent investigators to the southern and northern Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office buildings located in Suwon and Uijeongbu to secure related materials.

The search and seizure targets include the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office where former Deputy Governor Lee worked, the Economic Deputy Governor's Office (formerly Peace Deputy Governor's Office), the Secretary's Office, the Peace Cooperation Bureau, the Provincial Council Secretariat, the residence of former Gyeonggi Peace Cooperation Bureau Chief Shin Myung-seop, Kintex, and about ten other locations.

On the morning of the same day, the prosecution summoned former Deputy Governor Lee for questioning, and from the afternoon, they plan to conduct a confrontation investigation with former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae and others. Through the search and seizure, the prosecution has intensified pressure on former Deputy Governor Lee.

Former Deputy Governor Lee is suspected of demanding that former Chairman Kim cover the costs of Gyeonggi-do's North Korean smart farm support project. The prosecution believes that former Chairman Kim received a request from former Deputy Governor Lee along the lines of, "If the smart farm costs are not paid to North Korea, future North Korea projects in Gyeonggi-do will become difficult. Ssangbangwool Group should support the smart farm costs to North Korea on behalf of Gyeonggi-do."

Former Deputy Governor Lee has been initially indicted on charges of receiving bribes worth several hundred million won from Ssangbangwool in exchange for supporting North-South economic cooperation projects and is currently on trial at the Suwon District Court.