Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Yoo Dong-gyu, former head of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, clashed during the 'Daejang-dong trial.' The two engaged in a heated exchange as Lee pressed Yoo about the use of 300 million won Yoo had demanded in 2013 from Nam Wook, a developer involved in the Daejang-dong project.
On the 26th, during the trial concerning allegations of preferential development in Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 33 (Presiding Judge Kim Dong-hyun), Lee obtained an opportunity to speak directly and questioned Yoo while Yoo was being examined as a witness.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the 12th hearing of the first trial related to the 'Daejang-dong breach of trust and Seongnam FC bribery' case at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 26th. 2024.1.26 [Photo by Yonhap News]
Yoo testified that he borrowed money from demolition contractor Mr. A to cover a 40 million won bar tab incurred while drinking with Jeong Jin-sang, former chief of political coordination at the Democratic Party leader’s office, and Kim Yong, former deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute. When Mr. A later demanded additional money, Yoo explained that he received 300 million won from Nam and intended to split it evenly, giving 100 million won each to Jeong and Kim.
At this point, Lee strongly questioned the explanation, asking, "Did you receive 40 million won in bribes from Mr. A in exchange for providing rebar, and when Mr. A threatened to expose this, did you write an IOU for 300 million won and then demand that amount from Mr. Nam to repay the debt?" Lee’s implication was that Yoo was not dividing money but rather trying to cover up a personal bribery issue by demanding money from Nam.
Yoo rebutted, saying, "It seems you are accustomed to conspiracy theories; please refrain from that," and denied receiving bribes. However, Lee pressed again, stating, "These people threatened to expose you, so you wrote an IOU for 300 million won, and when you didn’t repay it, you went to the witness’s office to raise the issue, which forced you to urgently repay the money."
In response, Yoo raised his voice, saying, "Don’t write novels," and added, "Isn’t the person who came to the office a gangster well known to Lee Jae-myung? I heard that gangster is a friend of Lee and was commissioned by him." Lee retorted, "I don’t know that person."
As the verbal exchange between the two intensified, the court intervened, saying, "Let’s wrap it up at this point," and mediated to restrain the confrontation.
Lee is accused of violating the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act by leaking confidential information he learned during the Daejang-dong project while serving as mayor of Seongnam from August 2014, enabling private developers to gain approximately 788.6 billion won in profits. He is also charged with causing a loss of 489.5 billion won to Seongnam Urban Development Corporation by designing a business structure favorable to private developers.
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