The prosecution, which has been investigating allegations related to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, regarding remittances to North Korea, additionally indicted Lee on the 12th on charges including bribery involving a third party.
The Criminal Division 6 of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Seo Hyun-wook) indicted Lee on charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, violation of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, and violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. Former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Sung-tae was additionally indicted on charges of bribery offering.
The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office stated, "It was revealed that the former Governor of Gyeonggi Province and the former Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province conspired to promise the implementation of 'Hwanghae-do Smart Farm Support' requested by North Korea, which was impossible due to North Korean sanctions, and when North Korea urged the implementation of smart farm support around November 2018, they promised Kim Sung-tae, the actual owner of Ssangbangwool Group, 'Gyeonggi Province's support and guarantee for Ssangbangwool Group's North Korea business,' causing him to pay $5 million to North Korea on their behalf. Shortly after, around May 2019, they requested North Korea to invite the Governor of Gyeonggi Province to visit North Korea, and when North Korea demanded additional protocol expenses for the visit, they again caused Kim Sung-tae to pay $3 million to North Korea on their behalf," the office explained.
The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office added, "The prosecution indicted former Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young in October 2022 on charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and additionally indicted him last March on charges of violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act related to illegal remittances to North Korea. After 1 year and 8 months of trial proceedings, a first-instance sentence of 9 years and 6 months imprisonment was handed down on the 7th of this month. Through this, the reality of illegal remittances to North Korea colluded between Gyeonggi Province and Ssangbangwool Group was confirmed. The prosecution, after carefully analyzing the first-instance judgment, indicted Lee and former Deputy Governor Lee on charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and former Chairman Kim on charges of bribery offering," it said.
According to the prosecution, Lee is accused of conspiring with former Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young during his tenure as Governor of Gyeonggi Province to remit $5 million under the pretext of supporting the North Korean Hwanghae-do smart farm.
The prosecution stated that despite the 'Hwanghae-do Smart Farm Support' requested by North Korea around October 2018 being impossible under North Korean sanctions, Lee and former Deputy Governor Lee promised its implementation. When North Korea urged the implementation of smart farm support in January of the same year, they promised Kim Sung-tae, then Chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, Gyeonggi Province's support and guarantee for Ssangbangwool Group's North Korea business, causing Kim to pay a total of $5 million to North Korea from January to April 2019. The prosecution applied the charge of bribery involving a third party (violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes). They also applied charges of violating the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act for implementing the smart farm support cooperation project in Hwanghae-do, North Korea, without approval from the Minister of Unification.
The prosecution also applied charges of bribery involving a third party and violation of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act for causing Kim to pay $3 million on behalf of Lee for protocol expenses related to Lee's visit to North Korea.
The prosecution judged that after Kim paid $5 million for smart farm support, around May 2019, Gyeonggi Province requested North Korea to invite the Governor of Gyeonggi Province to visit, and when North Korea demanded additional protocol expenses, Kim was again caused to pay a total of $3 million to North Korea from around July 2019 to January 2020.
Additionally, Lee is charged with violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act for conspiring with former Deputy Governor Lee and Kim to pay a total of $8 million to the Workers' Party of Korea through the North Korean United Front Department head, who is subject to financial sanctions. Regarding this, former Deputy Governor Lee has already been found guilty in the first trial, and Kim is awaiting sentencing.
The prosecution additionally indicted Kim on charges of bribery offering totaling $8 million to Lee.
Meanwhile, regarding claims by the Democratic Party and some media that the first trial court for former Deputy Governor Lee rejected National Intelligence Service documents indicating stock manipulation without reason, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office stated, "The court admitted all National Intelligence Service documents secured through prosecution searches as evidence, and judged that most of the contents of the documents were strong evidence consistent with related parties' court testimonies and objective materials, supporting the charges."
A Suwon District Prosecutors' Office official said, "The prosecution will do its best to maintain the indictment so that the defendants receive punishments commensurate with their crimes."
With the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office indicting Lee on charges related to remittances to North Korea on this day, Lee will face trials in Suwon in addition to ongoing trials in Seoul for charges including breach of trust and bribery related to the Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, and Wirye New Town development projects, Seongnam FC sponsorship funds, violations of the Public Official Election Act, and perjury inducement.
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