Lee Jae-myung, in Final Statement: "I Did Not Take a Single Penny of Profit"

"Feels Like a Public Enemy of the World, It's Sad and Unfair"
Lawyer: "Ewhayeong's Testimony Reversal? ... No Evidence of Involvement Presented"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, reportedly expressed during his final statement at the pre-trial detention hearing on the 26th, "Since becoming the mayor of Seongnam, after promoting public development during the Daejang-dong development process, it seems I have become a public enemy of the world."

Park Gyun-taek, Lee’s defense attorney, met with reporters around 7:55 p.m. in front of the Seoul Central District Court building and said, "In his final statement, he expressed much regret and frustration over the ongoing investigation that has continued every day since he became governor of Gyeonggi Province," adding, "He also stated that he did not gain a single penny of profit."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the prosecution’s concern about evidence destruction as a reason for Lee’s detention, Park explained, "Two prosecution offices have conducted extensive investigations over a year and a half, and from our perspective, there is hardly any evidence to destroy," and added, "Since many parts of the case are not legally considered crimes, the defense attorneys argued that there is no need to worry about evidence destruction."

In response to the prosecution’s claim that a Democratic Party member attempted to have Lee Hwa-young (indicted and detained), former Gyeonggi Province Peace Deputy Governor, retract his testimony, Park countered, "The prosecution says the suspect (Lee) did that, but it does not mean the suspect himself did it." He continued, "We do not know what role or influence those around him had, but since no evidence of involvement was presented, we pointed out many issues with this ambiguous claim."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who has been indicted on suspicion of preferential treatment in the Baekhyun-dong development project and involvement in Ssangbangwool's North Korea remittance allegations, is attending the pre-trial detention hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 26th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Park said, "He (Lee) was very distressed," and added, "He only gave brief answers to the judge’s questions. He was not very talkative." However, he noted that Lee’s health issues were not mentioned during the hearing.

Lee underwent a video hearing lasting 9 hours and 17 minutes that day. This is the second longest duration since the pre-trial detention hearing system was introduced in 1997. Given the lengthy hearing, the decision on Lee’s detention is expected to be made past midnight.