Not-guilty Verdict Finalized After Daejang-dong Case
Nam Wook, Jung Younghak, and Yoo Donggyu Also Acquitted
President Lee Jaemyung commented on the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's decision not to appeal the first-instance not-guilty verdict in the alleged corruption case involving the Wirye New Town development, saying, "They tried to tie me to a case that cannot stand on legal grounds, even going so far as to alter the Daejang-dong recording from 'Wirye New Town talk' to 'higher-ups talk' and submit it as evidence..."
In the early hours of the 5th, President Lee wrote this as he shared on X (formerly Twitter) an article titled, "Prosecutors give up appealing Wirye case targeting President Lee... Why they had no other choice."
The previous day, on the 4th, the prosecution announced in relation to the Wirye development corruption case that "in light of the results of our legal review and the likelihood of an appeal being upheld, we have decided not to file an appeal." The deadline for appeal was midnight on the 4th. With this decision, the first-instance not-guilty verdicts for all defendants, including Yoo Donggyu, former acting president of Seongnam Development Corporation, lawyer Nam Wook, and accountant Jung Younghak, have been finalized.
The core of this case is the allegation that in 2013, when President Lee was serving as mayor of Seongnam, internal documents of the corporation (such as the project proposal guidelines) were passed to private developers during the process of promoting an apartment development project in Wirye New Town, and that these private parties gained approximately 21.1 billion won in profits through their selection as private business operators and the distribution of dividends. The prosecution indicted them on charges of violating the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Act (reflecting the intent of the current Conflict of Interest Prevention Act).
However, on January 28, the first-instance court acquitted all defendants, stating that "there is no proof of a crime." The court acknowledged that the information obtained by the private developers could constitute a "secret," but found it difficult to conclude that the "dividend profits" specified in the indictment directly constituted "property gains obtained by using a secret." It further held that causation was hard to recognize, noting that there were additional procedures such as sales and screening even after the selection of the business operator.
Previously, on January 7 (local time), at a press conference with the traveling press corps held in Shanghai, China, President Lee responded to criticism surrounding the controversy over the prosecution's potential "appeal withdrawal," saying, "They should blame the fact that the indictment was flawed, so why are they saying the court ruled incorrectly and demanding that they appeal to overturn the verdict?" He went on to say that "when a not-guilty verdict comes out, isn't it usually criticized as an overreaching indictment?" and suggested that unless the court's decision is wrong, criticism should be directed at those who insist on pursuing an overreaching indictment and appeal.
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