Lee Jae-myung Calls to Confirm "Any Threats to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport?" After Prosecution for Baekhyeon-dong False Statement

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was indicted on charges of making false statements during a National Assembly audit last year regarding the Baekhyeon-dong development project. Court testimony revealed that he directly called the then head of the relevant department to confirm whether the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had pressured for a land-use change.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 23rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 27 (Presiding Judge Kim Ok-gon) held a trial on the 27th for Kim In-seop, former CEO of Korea Housing Technology, on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (accepting bribes). The court conducted witness questioning of Mr. A, who worked as the head of the Urban Planning Division in Seongnam City from 2013 to 2015.

When the prosecution asked Mr. A, "Around October 2 last year, did Representative Lee directly call you to confirm whether the Ministry of Land pressured you to change the land use of the Baekhyeon-dong site?" Mr. A answered, "Yes."

Then, when the prosecution asked, "Did Representative Lee ask if someone reported that the Ministry of Land threatened to accuse you of dereliction of duty if the land-use change was not approved, and was that report about you?" Mr. A replied, "Yes. I said I had not received any calls or threats from the Ministry of Land."

Earlier, in October 2021, during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee’s audit of Gyeonggi Province, Representative Lee responded to allegations that Seongnam City had changed the land use of the Baekhyeon-dong Korean Food Research Institute site from natural green space to quasi-residential area in 2015, granting special favors to private developers, by stating that "the Ministry of Land requested the land-use change and threatened to accuse us of dereliction of duty if we did not comply." The prosecution judged this statement to be false and indicted Representative Lee last September on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.

According to Mr. A’s testimony, after Representative Lee was indicted last September for making false statements related to the Baekhyeon-dong project, he directly called Mr. A about a month later to confirm whether such a report had been made. The prosecution also revealed that Jeon Hyeong-su, former secretary-general to the Governor of Gyeonggi Province, called Mr. A with similar questions after Representative Lee’s call.

Mr. A also testified that Im Seung-min, former chief secretary who assisted Representative Lee closely for two years while he was mayor of Seongnam City, called him twice last August to confirm the same information.

When the prosecution asked, "Did Im request you to check whether there were any records of attending Ministry of Land meetings or business trips?" Mr. A answered, "Yes." He further emphasized, "I have never heard that the Ministry of Land requested a land-use change during the reporting process to Representative Lee or Jeong Jin-sang, former political coordination chief of the Democratic Party’s representative office."