Second Daejang-dong Corruption Trial Begins... Replaced Prosecutor Says "No Comment"

The second trial regarding the "Daejang-dong development corruption allegations" has commenced. The private developers implicated in the case continued to deny the charges in the appellate court. The prosecution was represented by a senior prosecutor from the High Prosecutors' Office, who has one of the longest tenures in the service.

Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, who was indicted on bribery charges, is attending the first trial sentencing hearing related to the Daejang-dong development project lobbying and preferential treatment allegations at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu on the afternoon of the 8th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

On January 23, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 6-3 (Presiding Judges Lee Yesul, Jeong Jaeo, and Choi Eunjeong) held the first preparatory hearing for the second trial of five defendants: Yoo Donggyu, former Head of Planning at Seongnam Development Corporation; Kim Manbae, major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management; lawyer Nam Wook; accountant Jeong Younghak; and lawyer Jeong Minyong, who are facing charges including breach of trust in the course of their work. Although the defendants were not required to attend the preparatory hearing, all five appeared in court.

The defendants signaled a fierce legal battle by continuing to deny the charges in the appellate court. The legal team for former executive Yoo stated that they would submit a transcript of a phone conversation between Yoo and lawyer Nam as evidence and requested that lawyer Nam be called as a witness. In addition, lawyer Nam's team argued that the first trial's proceedings were insufficient and announced their intention to call three witnesses to refute the embezzlement charges.

On the prosecution side, Prosecutor Yoon Chungoo (age 62, 26th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), a senior prosecutor from the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, appeared alone. He is among the longest-serving prosecutors currently in office, having been appointed in 1997. Prosecutor Yoon's appearance was due to the Ministry of Justice's policy prohibiting prosecutors from directly participating in trials. Prosecutors from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who handled the first trial, are not permitted to participate in the appellate proceedings.

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Yoon remained almost silent throughout the 50-minute hearing. When the court asked for the prosecution's opinion regarding the defense's request to have the case tried jointly with the case of former director Jeong, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Yoon replied, "No particular opinion." After completing the preparatory procedures, the court scheduled the first formal trial for March 13.

In the first trial, on October 31 of last year, Kim was sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to forfeit 42.8 billion won. In addition, lawyer Nam and accountant Jeong were sentenced to four years and five years in prison, respectively. However, while the first trial found them guilty of breach of trust in the course of their work, it acquitted them of aggravated breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, citing the inability to specify the amount of damages to the corporation. All defendants appealed, but the prosecution chose not to appeal, which sparked controversy.