Party Leader Going to Court Weekly?… Lee Jae-myung's 'Daejang-dong·Seongnam FC' Trial Also Begins

The trial concerning allegations of 'preferential treatment in the Wirye New Town and Daejang-dong development' and 'Seongnam FC sponsorship funds' involving Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, will begin on the 11th. Since Lee has been attending the trial for the 'violation of the Public Official Election Act,' which started earlier, on a biweekly basis, it is expected that he will have to appear in court every week going forward.

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is accused of spreading false information under the Public Official Election Act, is attending a trial held on March 31 at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

At 10 a.m. that day, the 33rd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Dong-hyun) will hold the first pretrial conference for Lee, who has been indicted on charges including breach of trust and bribery. Since the pretrial conference is a procedure to hear opinions from both the prosecution and defense and to establish future proof plans, and the defendant is not required to attend, Lee is not expected to appear in court.

Lee was indicted for approving a development project structure in Daejang-dong that favored private contractors during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam, causing a loss of 489.5 billion KRW to the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, and for leaking confidential information through aides to contractors, enabling them to gain 788.6 billion KRW. He is also accused of providing insider information to private contractors through aides in the Wirye New Town development project, resulting in an unfair gain of 21.1 billion KRW.

Additionally, as the owner of Seongnam FC, he is charged with receiving sponsorship funds amounting to 13.35 billion KRW from four companies in exchange for facilitating conveniences such as building permits and land use changes. He is also accused of demanding operating funds from companies in return for selling Seongnam city-owned land. Jeong Jin-sang, former Chief of Political Coordination at the Democratic Party’s Office and considered Lee’s closest aide, has also been indicted as a co-defendant in the Daejang-dong breach of trust and Seongnam FC sponsorship cases and will stand trial together.

The prosecution regards Lee as the so-called 'upper echelon' in the Daejang-dong development allegations. Trials for other key figures involved are proceeding separately. Cases involving former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu and private developer Kim Man-bae are being heard by the 22nd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jun-cheol).

Once the trial dates for the Daejang-dong and Seongnam FC cases are set and the trials intensify, Lee is expected to appear in court weekly. This is because he is currently attending court biweekly due to the ongoing trial for the Public Official Election Act violation charges.

The indictment in the Public Official Election Act violation case alleges that Lee made false statements during the 2021 presidential election process, claiming he did not know about the late Kim Moon-gi, former head of Development Division 1 at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, during his time as mayor of Seongnam. He is also accused of making false statements related to preferential treatment suspicions regarding land use changes at the Baekhyeon-dong Korea Food Research Institute site during a National Assembly audit. The case, currently being heard by the 34th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kang Kyu-tae), has its next trial date scheduled for the 19th.