Prosecution Adds Perjury Coaching Charges Against Lee Jae-myung... North Korea Remittance Case Transferred to Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Comprehensive)

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was additionally indicted on charges of witness tampering on the 16th.

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Yong-sik) indicted Lee without detention on charges of witness tampering on the same day. This came just four days after he was indicted without detention on the 12th over allegations of preferential treatment in the Baekhyeon-dong development project.

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

Kim Jin-sung, who was the personal secretary to the late former Seongnam Mayor Kim Byung-ryang, was also brought to trial for perjury in Lee's trial.

Lee is accused of repeatedly calling Kim from December 22 to 24, 2018, and requesting him to commit perjury in a trial concerning Lee's past 'impersonation of a prosecutor' case, which involved charges of false statements under the Public Official Election Act.

In 2002, while working as a lawyer, Lee was indicted for impersonating a prosecutor in collusion with KBS PD Choi Cheol-ho, who was covering the 'Bundang Parkview preferential sale case' involving then-Mayor Kim Byung-ryang, and was fined 1.5 million won in December 2004. Later, in May 2018, during a TV debate for the Gyeonggi Province governor candidacy, Lee was prosecuted for publicly making false statements by claiming, "The PD was impersonating, and since I was being interviewed nearby, I was falsely accused of helping him." It is alleged that Lee repeatedly explained his unilateral claims directly to Kim in an attempt to clear his charges.

The prosecution believes that despite Kim repeatedly stating he was unaware of the situation at the time, Lee pressured him by saying things like, "It would be best if you say that KBS and Mayor (Kim Byung-ryang)'s side had many consultations and, if possible, some tacit understanding about this issue," and "You can just say you heard such things," effectively coercing him to commit perjury. Several related circumstances were confirmed during the investigation.

Ultimately, on February 14, 2019, Kim appeared in court as a witness for Lee's side and gave false testimony favorable to Lee, inconsistent with his memory. Lee was later acquitted by the Supreme Court on October 24 of the following year.

Last month, the court also dismissed the arrest warrant for Lee but judged that the charges of witness tampering "appear to be substantiated."

The prosecution transferred the allegations related to the Ssangbangwool Group's remittance to North Korea, which had been included in the arrest warrant request along with the Baekhyeon-dong allegations and witness tampering charges, back to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. This was reportedly because all individuals involved in the case, including former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young, have been indicted and are on trial at the Suwon District Court, and investigations into many related persons are ongoing at the Suwon Prosecutors' Office.

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office is currently investigating allegations that former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Sung-tae made large 'split donations' to Lee during the 2021 Democratic Party presidential primary, as well as allegations that Lee's spouse, Kim Hye-kyung, misused corporate credit cards for personal purposes during Lee's tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province.

Since the Yoon Seok-youl administration began, this is the fourth time Lee has been brought to trial. The prosecution indicted Lee without detention last September for making false statements during the last presidential election campaign, and in March for the Daejang-dong development corruption and Seongnam FC sponsorship allegations, and on the 12th for the Baekhyeon-dong development preferential treatment allegations. If the newly indicted witness tampering case proceeds in a separate trial division, the number of trials Lee must attend will increase to three, further increasing his burden of court appearances.