Court Announces "Trial to Proceed Without Witness Examination"
Prosecution Protests, Calling "Refusal to Apply the Law Deeply Regrettable"
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, repeatedly failed to appear as a witness in the trial of private developers accused of corruption in the Daejang-dong development project, prompting the court to announce that it will proceed with the trial without Lee’s witness examination from the next session.
On the 7th, Lee was absent for the fifth time from the continuation trial of Kim Man-bae, major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, Yoo Dong-gyu, former head of the Planning Department at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, and other private developers involved in the Daejang-dong case, held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 (Presiding Judge Jo Hyung-woo). The court stated, "Members of the National Assembly have immunity from arrest, so it is practically difficult to summon them without the consent of the Assembly, and fines have little effect," adding, "This trial has been ongoing since 2021, and focusing solely on sanctions against witnesses makes it impossible to continue the trial, so we will no longer summon Lee."
The prosecution protested, saying, "Lee’s side is showing behavior that blatantly disregards the Constitution and laws, and it is very regrettable that the judiciary is effectively refusing to apply the law," but the court responded, "The summons procedure follows the detention warrant, so there is no choice," indicating that it will not proceed with the summons process for Lee. On the 31st of last month, when the prosecution requested to initiate the summons procedure, the court said, "Since members of the National Assembly have constitutional immunity from arrest, we are considering whether coercive measures are possible."
Lee was requested to appear as a witness five times from the 21st of last month to this day but submitted non-appearance notices to the court citing National Assembly duties or other trials and did not attend any sessions. After Lee’s repeated absences, the court imposed a fine of 3 million won on the 24th of last month and an additional fine of 5 million won on the 28th. Lee also filed an objection to the fine decision.
The private developers involved in the Daejang-dong case were brought to trial on charges including causing 489.5 billion won in damages to Seongnam Urban Development Corporation related to the Daejang-dong development project conducted during Lee’s tenure as mayor of Seongnam. Separately, Lee is also on trial at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 33 (Presiding Judge Lee Jin-gwan) along with Jeong Jin-sang, former director of political coordination at the party leader’s office, on charges of approving a development project structure favorable to these developers during his time as mayor, which caused losses to the corporation.
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