On the 18th, the prosecution filed an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is implicated in the 'Baekhyeon-dong development preferential treatment' and Ssangbangwool Group's 'North Korea remittance' allegations.
The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun) filed a pre-arrest warrant against Lee on charges including breach of trust under the Specific Economic Crimes Act, subornation of perjury, bribery under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. The prosecution bundled the Baekhyeon-dong development preferential treatment case and the Ssangbangwool Group's North Korea remittance case in filing the arrest warrant. Earlier, on the 14th, the Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team received the North Korea remittance case transferred from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Criminal Division 6 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-nam).
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is appearing at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi Province on the 12th to undergo investigation related to the allegations of 'Ssangbangwool Group's remittance to North Korea.' Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
On the day Lee, who was on his 19th day of fasting, was transferred to a hospital due to deteriorating health, the prosecution stated that they filed the arrest warrant as originally planned, judging that political considerations or reasons beyond the rights guaranteed to the suspect should not influence the judicial process. Lee had been on a hunger strike for 19 days since the 31st of last month, demanding government reform and a full cabinet reshuffle, but his health worsened that morning, leading to his transfer to Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital.
The prosecution suspects that during Lee's tenure as mayor of Seongnam from 2014 to 2015, the land use of the former Korea Food Research Institute site in Baekhyeon-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, was unusually upgraded by four levels (from natural/conservation green space to quasi-residential area), playing a leading role in granting various preferential treatments to private developers.
From April 2014 to February 2017, during the Baekhyeon-dong project, Lee allegedly conspired with Jeong Jin-sang, former chief of political coordination at the party leader's office, to exclude Seongnam Urban Development Corporation from the project following a request from broker Kim In-seop, former CEO of Korea Housing Technology. They allowed private developer Jeong Ba-ul, CEO of Asia Developer, to proceed with the Baekhyeon-dong development project solely through Seongnam R&D PFV. The prosecution found that they provided numerous preferential treatments, including upgrading the land use for apartment construction, changing donation targets, reducing the proportion of rental apartments, and approving illegal retaining wall installations.
In this process, Jeong reportedly gained profits worth approximately 135.6 billion KRW through sole implementation, Kim received 7.7 billion KRW from Jeong as a bribe, and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation suffered losses estimated at a minimum of 20 billion KRW, according to the prosecution's assessment.
Additionally, the prosecution applied charges against Lee for allegedly calling Kim, a former secretary to ex-Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang, in December 2018, requesting false testimony favorable to him in his trial for violating the Public Official Election Act related to impersonating a prosecutor.
Lastly, the prosecution charged that from January to April 2019, when Gyeonggi Province could not fulfill its promise to support a smart farm project worth approximately 5 million USD to North Korea due to sanctions, Lee conspired with Lee Hwa-young, former vice governor for peace of Gyeonggi Province, to accept improper requests from Kim Sung-tae, former chairman of Ssangbangwool Group. These requests included providing exclusive business opportunities and fund support while jointly promoting North Korea projects with Ssangbangwool Group, and asking for the costs to be paid on their behalf, resulting in Kim paying a total of about 5 million USD to North Korea.
Furthermore, from July 2019 to January 2020, Lee allegedly requested Kim to facilitate his visit to North Korea and asked Kim to cover the visit expenses, including protocol costs such as vehicles demanded by North Korea, amounting to approximately 3 million USD, leading Kim to pay a total of about 3 million USD to North Korea.
A prosecution official stated, "The prosecution filed the arrest warrant after fully considering the seriousness of the crimes and grounds for detention such as evidence destruction, based on the detention criteria generally applied to suspects under the law. Criminal justice should not be politicized, and no factors other than the rights guaranteed by law to the suspect should obstruct criminal justice. This principle guided the decision to file the arrest warrant."
With the filing of the arrest warrant against Lee on this day, if the motion for consent to arrest Lee is reported at the plenary session scheduled for the 20th, a vote is expected to take place at the plenary session as early as the 21st. Previously, in February, an arrest warrant was filed against Lee over the Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town development corruption and the Seongnam FC illegal sponsorship case, but the motion for consent to arrest was rejected by the National Assembly, allowing Lee to avoid detention without a warrant review by the court.
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