Prosecutors Oppose Lee Jae-myung's 'Trial Consolidation'... "An Attempt to Delay Proceedings and Avoid Sentencing"

The camp of former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung requested the consolidation of the 'Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance' case, currently being heard at the Suwon District Court, with the 'Daejang-dong, Wirye, Seongnam FC, Baekhyeon-dong suspicions' case at the Seoul Central District Court. The prosecution opposed this request.

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the 12th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office announced that it submitted an 'Opposition to Consolidation of Arguments' to the Supreme Court and Seoul Central District Court on the 10th regarding former leader Lee's request for consolidation of arguments.

The Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case being heard at the Suwon District Court occurred after July 2018, when Lee was governor of Gyeonggi Province, whereas the Seoul Central District Court case involves events from several years earlier during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam. The prosecution stated in the opposition that consolidation is impossible due to the completely different timing of the crimes, issues, and related parties.

Rather, among the cases being heard at the Central District Court, the Wirye and Daejang-dong cases involve the same related parties, including Kim Man-bae, Nam Wook, and Jeong Young-hak, known as the so-called 'Daejang-dong Trio.' The prosecution explained that since the timing, issues, and case structures are similar, it is necessary to separate the arguments and have the presiding court deliver a verdict on these cases first.

A representative of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stated, "If completely unrelated cases are consolidated when separation of arguments and verdicts should be considered, it would violate the principle of prompt trial progress due to delays in proceedings and significantly hinder the discovery of substantive truth. The defendant's request for consolidation is solely intended to delay the trial and avoid sentencing and should not be permitted."