On the 24th, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, again failed to appear at the trial related to the 'Daejang-dong Mainstream Case,' prompting the court to impose a fine of 3 million won on him.
On the 24th, the 22nd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Jo Hyung-woo) held a continuation of the first trial for five private developers involved in the Daejang-dong case, including Kim Man-bae, on charges of breach of trust. The court had originally planned to conduct witness questioning of Lee Jae-myung on that day, but he again failed to appear. The court stated, "The witness did not appear and has not submitted any additional statements," and added, "We will impose a fine of 3 million won on the witness according to standard procedures." The trial ended after six minutes.
Earlier, Lee had submitted a notice of non-appearance as a witness to the court on the 14th. Although the court decided to proceed with the witness questioning as scheduled, stating it was "necessary for the hearing," Lee did not attend the hearing on the 21st. The court had mentioned, "If he does not appear on the 24th either, we will consider imposing a fine." According to the Criminal Procedure Act, a witness who has received a summons and fails to appear without a valid reason may be fined up to 5 million won. If the witness is fined but still fails to appear without a valid reason, they may be detained for up to seven days, and compulsory detention is also possible.
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