Ewhayeong's Side "Kim Seongtae's North Korea Visit Costs, Not Lee Jaemyung's" Rebuttal
The prosecution disclosed in court the testimony in which former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young admitted to reporting to then-Governor Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, regarding the allegation that Ssangbangwool covered the costs of Lee Jae-myung’s trip to North Korea.
On the 5th, during the 56th trial session of the special law bribery and Foreign Exchange Transactions Act violation case against former Deputy Governor Lee at the Suwon District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Shin Jin-woo), the prosecution conducted documentary evidence examination and revealed this fact. Documentary evidence examination is a procedure where the prosecution publicly presents evidence admitted by the court and explains its purpose for proof.
The prosecution argued that based on several suspect interrogation records of former Deputy Governor Lee conducted in June 2023, it is acknowledged that the defendant requested Ssangbangwool to cover the costs of the Gyeonggi Province governor’s trip to North Korea and reported to then-Governor Lee Jae-myung that such costs were necessary, citing Hyundai Asan as an example.
The prosecution explained, "The defendant initially evaded answering about the coverage of the trip costs but during the prosecution’s investigation in June last year, she reported to the governor that ‘North Korea requested protocol costs for the trip, but Kim Sung-tae, chairman of Ssangbangwool, would handle it from a business perspective,’ and testified that Governor Lee Jae-myung instructed to ‘proceed accordingly.’" They added, "Even without being asked by the prosecutor, the defendant testified that in December 2019, Kim Sung-tae sent $1 million to $2 million to North Korea for the governor’s trip and signed contracts, indicating that things were progressing well, and that in early 2020, the trip seemed likely to be realized."
Former Deputy Governor Lee had previously reversed her position, claiming that her statements about reporting to the governor were due to coercion and pressure from the prosecution and were not true. Regarding this, the prosecution stated, "When the defendant first confessed about the trip costs on June 9 last year, she gave her testimony with legal counsel present, and during the prosecution’s investigation on June 18 of the same year, accompanied by another lawyer whom she trusted, she testified that ‘Kim Sung-tae handled all the trip costs on his own, and I reported this to the governor.’"
They further added, "In the August investigation last year, the defendant said, ‘I raise suspicions about false reporting due to prosecution coercion, but that is not true at all, and I testified based on what I know,’ clearly denying any coercion by the prosecution."
Lee’s defense attorney, Kim Hyun-chul, argued, "The $3 million for Lee Jae-myung’s trip to North Korea is a fabrication by the prosecution to indict Lee Jae-myung," and claimed, "There is no evidence in any Ssangbangwool documents regarding preparations for Lee Jae-myung’s trip, so the prosecution absolutely needs the defendant’s testimony that she reported Ssangbangwool’s coverage to the governor."
Attorney Kim emphasized that the $5 million paid by Ssangbangwool was not for Gyeonggi Province’s smart farm expenses but corresponded to the contract money for Ssangbangwool’s North Korea business in May 2019, and that the $3 million was Kim Sung-tae’s trip cost, unrelated to the defendant.
Meanwhile, the prosecution applied to add three more witnesses, including Ministry of Economy and Finance officials, on the same day. The prosecution’s additional witness application intends to hear the basis for the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s response to the defendant’s fact inquiry request, which stated that the North Korean organizations, the Workers’ Party of Korea’s United Front Department and the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee (Korean Asia-Pacific Committee), are not subject to financial sanctions.
The former Deputy Governor’s side had earlier requested a fact inquiry from the Ministry of Economy and Finance through the court, arguing, "Although the North Korean Korean Asia-Pacific Committee is not subject to financial sanctions, the defendant was indicted for violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act." The prosecution explained, "After extensive internal legal review, the Ministry’s response contains only fragmentary answers. It is difficult to accept the fact inquiry response explaining why third parties such as organizations or officials under the Workers’ Party of Korea are not subject to sanctions despite receiving foreign currency related to their duties."
The Foreign Exchange Transactions Act violation charges against former Deputy Governor Lee allege that she conspired with former Ssangbangwool chairman Kim Sung-tae to smuggle out $8 million (approximately 8.8 billion KRW) overseas in five installments from January 2019 to January 2020 and delivered it to personnel of the North Korean Korean Asia-Pacific Committee and the Workers’ Party of Korea’s United Front Department.
The specific legal violations include two points: failing to report in advance when carrying payment means (foreign or domestic currency, etc.) exceeding $30,000 abroad, and failing to obtain prior approval when providing funds to persons subject to financial sanctions.
The court accepted the prosecution’s witness application, stating, "In other cases, we also refer to authoritative interpretations from the competent departments on specialized and unfamiliar topics." The witness examination is scheduled for the 12th of this month.
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