DP's Lee Jae-myung questioned as suspect for first time

With senior Democratic Party lawmakers behind him, DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung delivers remarks after arriving at the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office on Tuesday morning. [YONHAP]

Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung maintained his innocence as he appeared for questioning at a prosecutors' office on Tuesday over bribery allegations surrounding corporate donations to Seongnam's football club during his term as the city's mayor.

Lee, the liberal Democratic Party's (DP) former presidential candidate and its current chairman, arrived at the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office at 10:30 a.m., accompanied by senior lawmakers from his party.

Lee accused prosecutors of mounting a political campaign against him in front of the prosecutors' office just before walking in to be questioned.

"I am well aware that the summons for the investigation [today] is a trap laid out by politically-motivated prosecutors," Lee said.

"Not only is this unprecedented persecution — the first summoning of a leader of a [main] opposition party in modern history — but it is also a coup against the judiciary by reviving cases that have been cleared of suspicion."

Prosecutors are investigating allegations that sponsorship payments made in the mid-2010s to Seongnam FC by major businesses, including Doosan Engineering & Construction Co. and Naver, were bribes in disguise to Lee, who served as mayor of Seongnam from 2010 to 2018.

At the heart of the investigation are two major questions: whether the payments made to Seongnam FC constitute legitimate corporate sponsorship or an illicit quid pro quo, and whether Lee pocketed any of that money for himself.

Lee has denied wrongdoing on both fronts, arguing that the payments were for the benefit of Seongnam's residents.

"Are attempts by the Seongnam mayor and public servants to save money a major crime?" Lee asked rhetorically. "These were legal and appropriate sponsorship contracts, which prosecutors are trying to make appear nefarious."

But the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office suspects not only that the city government of Seongnam granted favorable treatment to Doosan, Naver and four other entities in return for 16 billion won ($11.2 million) transferred to the Seongnam FC, but also that the football club was the conduit by which money was delivered to Lee.

According to the prosecution, Lee is suspected of re-zoning a 9,900-square-meter plot of land in the Bundang District owned by Doosan in return for payments totaling 5 billion won between 2016 and 2018 to Seongnam FC. The company listed the payments as advertising expenses.

Although the area's registered purpose was for a hospital, the zoning change paved the way for Doosan to build a commercial development.

Lee's aides have denied the allegations, claiming the zoning change was not tied to Doosan's donations to Seongnam FC.

Lee said he, like former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, is being investigated on fabricated charges.

He argued that prosecutors have already made up their minds.

"Everyone already knows they have set the indictment target and are matching the investigation accordingly," Lee said.

The DP leader claimed that because prosecutors have already decided to indict him, there is no use explaining or trying to convince them otherwise, and that the matter has to be settled through a trial.

"Eventually the truth has to be fought for in court," Lee said.

The DP chairman echoed a deeply-held belief among DP members that the country's prosecution service is used to carry out politically motivated criminal probes and he indirectly accused President Yoon Suk Yeol and Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon of perpetuating the practice.

"The very prosecutors who once served as the lapdogs of the government are today the government itself," Lee said, but expressed confidence he "will win this," despite "excessive" court approval of indictments due to "fabricated investigation arrest warrants."

Lee's appearance at the Seongnam prosecution branch marks the first time he's appeared at the prosecutors' office as a criminal suspect, despite ties to a number of scandals.

The DP chairman's political allies and acquaintances have been arrested in connection with a corruption scandal surrounding the Daejang-dong development in Seongnam, while he and his wife were also accused of using a corporate expense card issued by the Gyeonggi provincial government during his 2018-2021 gubernatorial term for personal purposes.

The DP leader showed up Tuesday with the DP leadership including lawmakers Ko Min-jung and Kim Tae-nyeon.

Some 900 crowd control police personnel were dispatched to the Seongnam prosecution branch as a crowd estimated at more than 1,000 people — both supporters and people demanding the arrest of the DP leader — attended demonstrations at Lee's appearance.

Speaking at the National Assembly after Lee was taken in for questioning, DP floor leader Park Hong-keun called for an immediate halt to what he characterized as "persecution of the opposition."

"While [the Yoon administration] appears on the surface to abide by the rule of law, in practice it is essentially ruling with an iron fist to remove political opponents of President Yoon Suk Yeol and suppress the opposition party," he said.

"It must be remembered that it was also by the rule of law that the German Nazis and the Japanese colonial government in Korea persecuted people."

BY LEE HO-JEONG, MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]