Prosecution Indicts Lee Jae-myung Without Detention Over 'Baekhyeon-dong' Allegations... Opposition Calls It "Political Rival Elimination"

Democratic Party: "Prosecution's Investigation and Indictment Rights Used to Oppress Opposition Leader"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was indicted in connection with the 'Baekhyeon-dong development preferential treatment suspicion,' prompting opposition parties to criticize it as a "(prosecutor's) political opponent elimination indictment."

Kang Seon-woo, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, stated in a briefing on the 12th, "We condemn the shameless behavior of the Yoon Seok-yeol prosecution, which pulled out the indictment card like a flash after the crushing defeat in the Gangseo District mayoral by-election."

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is under suspicion of preferential treatment in the development of Daechung-dong and Wirye New Town, is attending a trial at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 6th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Earlier that day, the prosecution indicted Lee without detention on charges of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. Lee is accused of granting preferential treatment to private contractors during the Baekhyeon-dong development project in Bundang-gu from April 2014 to March 2018, when he was mayor of Seongnam, allowing them to monopolize profits of 135.6 billion won and causing at least 20 billion won in damages to the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, which was excluded from the project.

Kang said, "The result of this by-election was a stern judgment by the people against the Yoon Seok-yeol government, which was solely focused on seizing power and neglected the livelihood economy," adding, "However, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration ignored the desperate voices of the people asking to save their livelihoods and made the worst move by leveraging the prosecution's investigative and indictment powers to disregard the people's warning."

He continued, "It is outrageous that the first response of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration to the by-election result, which they said must be 'taken seriously,' is not national reform but a 'political opponent elimination indictment.' I am at a loss for words at the persistence of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and political prosecution, who intend to harass Lee Jae-myung to the end through ongoing investigations and indiscriminate prosecutions since taking office."

Furthermore, Kang warned, "While the people are dying amid the livelihood economy crisis, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, obsessed only with eliminating political opponents, and the political prosecution, obsessed with 'oppressing the opposition party leader' through investigative and indictment powers, will not be able to escape the people's judgment."