Democratic Party Chairman Lee Jae-myung defies summons

Politics

Published: 06 Sep. 2022, 17:23 Updated: 06 Sep. 2022, 17:25

Democratic Party Chairman Lee Jae-myung defies summons

A photo line is marked at the entrance of the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office in Seocho District, southern Seoul on Tuesday. Democratic Party Chairman Lee Jae-myung, was summoned by prosecution to answers questions Tuesday morning on allegations of making false statements in violation of election laws that day but did not to appear. [NEWS1]

Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Lee Jae-myung did not comply with a prosecution summons over possible election law violations on Tuesday and instead submitted a written response.

On the same day, prosecutors raided related offices in the Gyeonggi Provincial Office amid an investigation into accusations that Lee made false statements related to the Daejang-dong and Baekhyeon-dong development projects during his time as Seongnam mayor.

Last Thursday, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office instructed Lee to appear for questioning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday over allegations of violating the Public Office Election Act by spreading false information related to a land development scandal in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, in 2015.

Rep. An Ho-young, a DP spokesman, said Tuesday morning that Lee submitted a written response to the prosecution the previous day by mail and notified them by phone.

"Since Chairman Lee accepted the prosecution's request for a written response and submitted one, the reason for the summoning has been resolved and he will not appear in person," he said.

The prosecution initially said that Lee was summoned because he had failed to submit written answers in time, while Lee's side claimed he had been in the process of preparing the response but had been given short notice.

In a television interview on Dec. 22 during his presidential campaign, Lee denied knowing Kim Moon-gi, a key figure in the Daejang-dong land development project, during his time as Seongnam mayor. Lee claimed that he didn't know Kim, since he was a "lower-level employee" and only got to know him after he became Gyeonggi governor in 2018.

Photos were released of Lee together with Kim and several other people, including some from an overseas business trip in January 2015.

Kim, the head of the Seongnam Development Corporation's project development team, had been under investigation over allegations of preferential treatment tied to the Daejang development project and was found dead after committing suicide on Dec. 21.

Lee was also to be questioned on allegations that he lied about a land development project in Baekhyeon-dong, also in Seongnam. The former Gyeonggi governor is accused of violating election laws by telling parliament on Oct. 20 that special treatment was given to the developer of the Baekhyeon-dong project at the request of the Land Ministry, rather than the Seongnam city government.

In the written response to prosecution, Lee countered that the three statements that were accused of being false were true, according to spokesman An.

Lee continued to maintain that he didn't know Kim Moon-ki during his time as mayor, claiming it is difficult to recognize everyone since there are more than 4,000 civil servants in the Seongnam city government and related organizations. He further stood by media interviews last year where he denied receiving a report on the details of the removal of a sensitive clause on how to redeem excess profits from the Daejang-dong project.

He also stuck to his Oct. 20 statement that Seongnam gave a construction permit to convert the land in Baekhyun-dong to an apartment complex because of pressure from the Land Ministry under the Park Geun-hye government.

"The general opinion within the party is that [our party chairman] should not be dragged around amid the attempts at political oppression," said spokesman An in a statement.

Prosecutors conduct a raid on the Gyeonggi Provincial Office in Gyeonggi as a part of its investigation into allegations that Lee making false statements during his presidential campaign related to a land development scandal during his time as Seongnam mayor. [NEWS1]

The prosecution will now have to decide whether to indict Lee without questioning him with the statute of limitations set to expire on Friday.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's search of a Gyeonggi Provincial Office included the office of a team leader who was previously in charge of public affairs when Lee was Seongnam mayor.

Lee, a presidential candidate for the DP was defeated by the People Power Party's (PPP) Yoon Suk-yeol in the March 9 presidential election. In June, he was elected as a lawmaker representing Incheon's Gyeyang-B district and at the end of August became the new DP leader through a party convention.

Lawmakers of the PPP have accused Lee of seeking elected office in order to get immunity from the prosecution. The Constitution stipulates that sitting lawmakers cannot be arrested without the consent of their fellow lawmakers unless they are caught at the scene of a crime. Summoning a sitting lawmaker is also difficult once a National Assembly is in session as it gives them plenty of excuses not to appear.

DP lawmakers in turn called the prosecution summons "political retaliation" led by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and the PPP and a scheme to find a way to indict Lee and declared a "war."

On Monday, the DP lambasted the summoning of its chief and in turn filed a complaint with the prosecution against Yoon for making false statements during his presidential campaign about stock manipulation allegations involving first lady Kim Keon-hee. The DP is also pushing for a special probe on the allegations against the first lady.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]