[Exclusive] Prosecution Secures Recorded Call File on Lee Jae-myung's Alleged Perjury Coaching... Lee's Side Says "Only a Request for Testimony"

Suspicion of Perjury Coaching by CEO Lee Included in Kim's Warrant Request Related to Baekhyun-dong
Additional Search of Kim on 22nd Following January Raid
Likely to Affect CEO Lee's Election Law Violation Trial

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Taegeukgi Flag Raising Campaign condemning submissive diplomacy toward Japan held in front of the National Assembly main building on the 22nd.
[Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@]

It has been confirmed that the prosecution secured a phone recording file containing evidence of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, allegedly instructing perjury during the investigation of the Baekhyeon-dong development corruption case.

According to the legal community on the 26th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun) filed a pre-arrest warrant on the 23rd against Kim Mo (52), an associate of former Korea Housing Technology CEO Kim In-seop, on two counts of bribery under the Specific Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act and perjury charges.

Kim worked as the secretary to former Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang from July 1998 to June 2002. Afterwards, he served as the CEO of a real estate consulting company in Yongin.

The prosecution applied three charges against Kim, including bribery under the Specific Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act for receiving money from Jeong Ba-ul, CEO of Asia Developer, as a reward for facilitating permits related to the Baekhyeon-dong development project alongside CEO Kim In-seop, who is known to be close to Lee and former Chief Secretary Jeong Jin-sang; perjury for testifying as a witness in Lee's election law violation trial at Lee's request while assisting Jeong; and receiving money from companies after arranging deliveries to Seongnam City and others through Jeong Jin-sang.

The prosecution summoned Kim on the 22nd and filed the arrest warrant on the 23rd. Initially, Kim was included in the targets of the large-scale search and seizure operation conducted by the prosecution at over 40 locations related to the Baekhyeon-dong case in January this year, but the prosecution conducted an additional search on Kim on the 22nd when he was summoned.

Kim had recorded several phone calls from Lee, starting in December 2018, in which Lee repeatedly asked him to testify as a witness in the trial. The prosecution reportedly secured the recording file during the search and seizure process. Based on this evidence, the prosecution appears to have stated in Kim's arrest warrant that Kim was asked by Lee over the phone to testify favorably as a witness, actually committed perjury in court, and received compensation for it.

The perjury charge applied to Kim by the prosecution relates to Lee's 2018 'impersonation of a prosecutor' incident.

Lee was indicted for conspiring with producer Choi Mo of KBS's "Chujeok 60 Minutes" to impersonate a prosecutor while calling Kim Byung-ryang, then mayor of Seongnam, from Lee's law office in Seongnam in May 2002. In July 2003, the Suwon District Court sentenced Lee to a fine of 1.5 million won for impersonating a public official, and the ruling was finalized by the Supreme Court in December 2004.

The prosecution judged that Lee had informed Choi of the name of the prosecutor to impersonate and the questions to ask, and that Choi impersonated the prosecutor to investigate allegations of preferential treatment and misuse of authority related to the Bundang Baekgung and Jeongja District Parkview zoning changes and preferential sales.

However, on May 29, 2018, during the "2018 Gyeonggi Province Governor Candidate KBS Invitational Debate," Lee responded to a rival candidate's question about the impersonation by saying, "I did not do it; the PD impersonated the prosecutor while I was being interviewed nearby, so I was falsely accused of helping," and "I never impersonated a prosecutor. I was falsely accused because I was being interviewed next to the PD who did it."

Lee was indicted without detention on December 11, 2018, for false statement under the Public Official Election Act. The charge was that Lee conspired to impersonate a prosecutor by providing Choi with the prosecutor's name and questions, and despite having been criminally punished for the impersonation incident, falsely claimed not to have conspired or participated in it.

The prosecution believes that Kim, while assisting CEO Jeong Ba-ul with the Baekhyeon-dong development project and agreeing to receive money in return for facilitating permits with CEO Kim In-seop, was repeatedly called by Lee around December 2018 and asked to testify that there was an agreement or atmosphere to withdraw the complaint against Choi to frame Lee as the main culprit between Kim Byung-ryang and KBS during the prosecutor impersonation incident.

According to the prosecution, Kim, at Lee's request, appeared as a witness on February 14, 2019, at 2 p.m. at the Suwon District Court Seongnam Branch for Lee's election law violation trial, took the witness oath, and testified that there was an agreement or atmosphere to withdraw the complaint against Choi to frame Lee as the main culprit between Kim Byung-ryang and KBS, even though he did not know or remember if such an agreement or atmosphere actually existed. This is the perjury charge applied to Kim.

The prosecution also judged that Kim's response to questions about whether he had spoken with Lee, saying, "The defendant said there were parts he did not remember well, so I contacted him once," was also perjury despite receiving multiple calls from Lee requesting witness attendance and perjury.

Lee was ultimately acquitted in that trial.

Lee is currently on trial for allegedly making false statements related to the Baekhyeon-dong Korean Food Research Institute site zoning change preferential treatment allegations during the National Assembly audit and for claiming not to have known the late Kim Moon-gi, former head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation during his tenure as Seongnam mayor.

The Baekhyeon-dong-related allegations stem from Lee's statement on October 20 last year at the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's Gyeonggi Province audit, where he said, "The Ministry of Land requested the zoning change, and under the Special Act on the Relocation of Public Institutions, we had no choice but to comply."

He also stated, "Since Seongnam City could not accept making thousands of billions of won in profits through the zoning change, the city planned to secure some profits and attract business facilities, but the Ministry of Land threatened to accuse us of dereliction of duty."

However, the prosecution concluded, based on official documents and investigations of relevant officials, that Seongnam City had not received any request for a four-stage zoning upgrade from the Ministry of Land and that the decision was made independently by Seongnam City, leading to Lee's indictment.

When filing the arrest warrant for Kim on the 23rd, the prosecution stated that Kim and CEO Kim In-seop agreed to receive 7 billion won from CEO Jeong Ba-ul as a reward for obtaining approval from Seongnam City to change the zoning of Baekhyeon-dong land, originally designated as natural and conservation green areas, enabling 300 billion won in sales profits, and that 3.5 billion won had actually been received.

The prosecution found that CEO Kim had a close political relationship with Lee, helping Lee's Seongnam mayoral election around 2006, maintaining close ties with Lee's aide Jeong Jin-sang, and having strong friendships with many Seongnam City officials through the Honam Regional Association and others.

Kim reportedly boasted to CEO Jeong Ba-ul around November 2013 of his close friendship with then Seongnam Mayor Lee and Jeong Jin-sang, who was effectively the second-in-command at Seongnam City Hall, claiming he could influence Seongnam City Hall. He promised to receive shares that would yield huge dividends if the Baekhyeon-dong project succeeded by resolving various permits related to the project for CEO Jeong. Notably, after CEO Kim was arrested in April 2015 for another bribery case, Kim reportedly visited CEO Kim almost daily for a year, handling and reporting on his instructions, effectively managing Seongnam City's liaison work.

Contrary to Lee's claim that the zoning change approval was forced by the Ministry of Land's request and threats, the prosecution views it as the result of lobbying by CEO Kim In-seop and Kim, who promised monetary compensation from CEO Jeong.

Regarding another bribery charge under the Specific Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act, the prosecution stated that in July 2018, Kim agreed to receive 30% of sales as a commission for facilitating the delivery of wiretapping detection systems and other products from wireless communication equipment manufacturer G Company to public institutions. After testifying falsely on February 14, 2019, at Lee's request, Kim asked former Chief Secretary Jeong Jin-sang in March 2019 to help deliver G Company's wiretapping detection systems to Gyeonggi Province and its council, receiving about 71 million won from G Company as a reward.

The prosecution's constructed facts are that Kim, along with CEO Kim In-seop, helped CEO Jeong Ba-ul resolve various permits related to the Baekhyeon-dong project, was asked by Lee to testify falsely as a witness in his trial, actually testified with false statements favorable to Lee, and later requested former Chief Secretary Jeong Jin-sang to arrange deliveries of wiretapping equipment to Seongnam City and others as compensation.

On the 31st, former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Headquarters Director Yoo Dong-gyu is expected to appear as a witness in Lee's election law violation trial, claiming that Lee could not have been unaware of the late Kim Moon-gi, leading to intense courtroom battles with Lee's side. In this situation, the revelation of concrete evidence that Kim and CEO Kim In-seop conspired with CEO Jeong Ba-ul to lobby for permits related to the Baekhyeon-dong development project against Lee and his aide Jeong Jin-sang is likely to work against Lee, who has claimed that the zoning change approval was forced by the Ministry of Land.

Meanwhile, a prosecution official acknowledged the search and seizure of Kim but said, "It is not yet the stage to confirm the evidentiary relationships."

Regarding reports that the prosecution included evidence of Lee instructing perjury in Kim's arrest warrant, the Democratic Party of Korea's party leader secretariat issued a statement titled "Notice," asserting that Lee did not instruct Kim to commit perjury but merely requested testimony.

Lee's side stated, "Lee's request to Kim, who was detained in connection with the Baekhyeon-dong project, to testify was related to a separate election law trial unrelated to the Baekhyeon-dong project during his tenure as Gyeonggi Province governor, and it was a request to 'testify truthfully,' not to commit perjury."

They added, "Furthermore, some reports claiming that Kim testified in February 2019 that 'there was an opinion to withdraw the complaint against PD Choi to frame Lee as the main culprit by the side of former Mayor Kim Byung-ryang who sued Lee, and that Lee was falsely accused' are not true."

Lee's side also said, "Kim never testified that 'Lee was falsely accused,' and rather, when asked by the defense whether the complaint withdrawal was in exchange for cooperation in framing the defendant as the main culprit of prosecutor impersonation, Kim responded that 'given Kim Byung-ryang's character, that was unlikely.'"