Lee Jae-myung Indicted for Ssangbangwool North Korea Remittance: "Prosecutors' Creativity Level Declining"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized on the 12th the prosecution's decision to indict without detention on charges of third-party bribery related to Ssangbangwool's remittance to North Korea, saying, "The level of the prosecution's fabrication is deteriorating day by day."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 12th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the same day, Lee met with reporters at the National Assembly and said, "Our citizens can easily see how absurd this case is with just a little examination." He added, "If you have this much energy, please take care of the difficult livelihood issues and focus on security and the economy."

Earlier, the prosecution indicted Lee on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery), violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and violation of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act.

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office stated, "The former governor of Gyeonggi Province and the former deputy governor for peace in Gyeonggi Province conspired to promise the implementation of 'Hwanghae-do smart farm support' requested by the North Korean side, despite it being impossible due to North Korean sanctions. When North Korea urged the implementation of smart farm support around November 2018, they promised Kim Seong-tae, the actual owner of Ssangbangwool Group, 'Gyeonggi Province's support and guarantee for Ssangbangwool Group's North Korea business,' and had him 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. When North Korea additionally demanded protocol expenses for the visit, they again had Kim Seong-tae pay $3 million to North Korea on behalf of Ssangbangwool Group," revealing these facts.