Court Acknowledges "Lee Jae-myung Delivered $2 Million for North Korea Visit"
Key Evidence Lies in Proving 'Lee Hwa-young Reported to Representative Lee'
The court has acknowledged that former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young asked former Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim Sung-tae to cover the costs of Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea's visit to North Korea, leading the prosecution to likely file additional charges against Lee soon.
In legal circles, there is speculation that the verdict on Lee's guilt or innocence will depend on how the prosecution proves with evidence that Lee was informed in advance or during the process about the remittance to North Korea by former Deputy Governor Lee.
From the left, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Lee Hwa-young, former Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Gyeonggi Province
According to legal sources on the 10th, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office has decided to indict Lee on charges including bribery by a third party and violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act related to Ssangbangwool Group's remittance to North Korea. They are currently analyzing the first trial judgment of former Deputy Governor Lee and conducting final organization of the charges and evidence selection.
At the first trial sentencing hearing of former Deputy Governor Lee held on the 7th, the court found her guilty on all four charges: bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, violation of the Political Funds Act, violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and obstruction of evidence. She was sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison and fined 250 million won. Notably, the court stated that the $2 million delivered by Ssangbangwool to North Korea was "sufficient to be considered a case fee delivered to the North Korean authorities in relation to the Gyeonggi Province Governor's visit to North Korea."
Immediately after the verdict, the prosecution stated, "Through today's ruling, it has been clearly confirmed that defendant Lee Hwa-young delivered a total of $8 million of Ssangbangwool funds to North Korea, including $3 million under the pretext of covering the Gyeonggi Province Governor's visit expenses, during the process of promoting Gyeonggi Province's projects with North Korea." They added, "It was also confirmed that Kim Sung-tae's motive for covering the $8 million was the expectation of full support from Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung and Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young." This is interpreted as confirming the elements of the third-party bribery crime, such as 'improper solicitation,' 'relation to official duties,' and 'quid pro quo' through this ruling.
If the prosecution indicts Lee, since the court has already recognized Ssangbangwool's remittance to North Korea to cover Lee's visit expenses, the consensus in legal circles is that Lee's guilt or innocence will hinge on whether it can be proven that he was aware of this process beforehand or during the process.
On the 8th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon wrote on his Facebook, "As someone working as the Seoul Mayor, I know well that it is impossible for a deputy governor to handle such a significant matter of this scale without the governor's knowledge." As Mayor Oh pointed out, it is indeed hard to understand logically that former Deputy Governor Lee, appointed by Lee to promote inter-Korean projects, did not report to Lee and had millions of dollars paid to North Korea by a company without Lee's knowledge.
However, the issue lies in how much objective evidence the prosecution has beyond the statements of the involved parties, given the strict proof requirements in criminal trials. Previously, in September last year, Chief Judge Yoo Chang-hoon dismissed Lee's arrest warrant, stating, "Regarding the remittance to North Korea, based on the statements of key related person Lee Hwa-young and current related materials, there is room for dispute about the suspect's awareness, conspiracy, and degree of involvement." This meant that the evidence submitted by the prosecution was insufficient to acknowledge the related charges. A prosecutor involved in Lee's investigation at the time said, "We have 100% conviction, but the problem is the lack of conclusive evidence."
However, there remains a possibility that former Deputy Governor Lee, who reversed his previous statements under the persuasion of lawyers defending Lee and his wife despite knowing it was disadvantageous to himself, might again change his testimony in the second trial.
Former Deputy Governor Lee initially testified to the prosecution that he reported to Lee about the remittance to North Korea but later reversed his statement through suspicious processes including changing his defense attorney, releasing a prison letter through the Democratic Party, and his wife's courtroom outburst. Regarding this, Chief Judge Yoo also stated, "There are circumstances that raise suspicion of inappropriate intervention by persons close to the suspect (Lee Jae-myung) concerning Lee Hwa-young's testimony."
If the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office indicts Lee on charges related to remittance to North Korea, Lee is expected to face trials in Seoul for charges including breach of trust and bribery related to the Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, and Wirye New Town development projects and Seongnam FC sponsorship funds, as well as violations of the Public Official Election Act and witness tampering, and simultaneously attend trials in Suwon.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
