DP's Lee Jae-myung decries prosecutors after second round of questioning

Politics

Published: 29 Jan. 2023, 17:14 Updated: 29 Jan. 2023, 21:09

DP's Lee Jae-myung decries prosecutors after second round of questioning

Democratic Party Chairman Lee Jae-myung answers questions by reporters on Saturday after being inquired by prosecutors at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho District in southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung argued that prosecutors, under his political rival President Yoon Suk Yeol, are fabricating allegations against him with the goal of indicting him.

"The Yoon Suk Yeol prosecutors, as prosecutors under a dictatorship government, felt they were playing politics instead of conducting an investigation," Lee said upon leaving the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office roughly 12 hours after entering the building on Saturday.

"I couldn't shake off the feeling that they were fabricating things with the goal of indicting me instead of trying to investigate the truth," Lee said. "They were dragging things on unnecessarily for another summoning while asking the same questions over and over and showing documents that they had already shown."

Lee was questioned by the prosecutors' office regarding allegations of involvement in a development project in Wirye New Town and Daejang-dong in Gyeonggi during his time serving as Seongnam city mayor.

The massive profits that were generated from the apartment development projects are suspected to have been used to create a political slush fund for Lee, who was the DP presidential candidate during last year's election.

Saturday was the second time Lee was summoned to the prosecutors for questioning.

However, the first summoning on Jan. 10 was by the Suwon district office in relation to another case.

Lee is suspected of offering quid pro quo to major companies including Doosan E&C and Naver using his authority as Seongnam mayor in exchange for massive corporate sponsorships for the city's football club.

The prosecutors suspect the sponsorships benefited Lee politically and are also looking into the possibility that the funds were laundered to create a political slush fund.

According to the JoongAng Ilbo, citing the prosecutors' office, Lee's questioning ended around 9 p.m. after he refused to continue.

For another hour and a half, Lee and his lawyer reviewed the questions and the answers Lee gave.

It was reported that, during the investigation, Lee had referred to a 33-page statement that he had prepared.

The 33-page statement was posted on Lee's Facebook and claims his innocence while accusing the rivaling People Power Party (PPP) of instigating the situation by opposing the development project as a public project and giving no other option but to pursue the development project as a joint operation with private developers.

In the statement, Lee emphasizes that the private developers were able to take a huge amount of the profits generated from the project because they took a large risk.

He also denied any involvement with the private developers or their schemes, contradicting statements made by witnesses at court.

Also in the statement, Lee denies allegations that he is the biggest stakeholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, an asset management company at the center of the Daejang-dong development scandal.

"I didn't know of the existence of Cheonhwa Dongin until it was reported in the press," Lee argued.

He stressed that the accusations that he has a stake in Cheonhwa Dongin, a company wholly owned by Hwacheon Daeyu, is absurd.

The DP chair argued that the PPP had profited off of the public by getting the local government-owned developer involved, rather than giving the project all to the private sector.

Lee placed the blame on Yoo Dong-gyu, the former acting president of Seongnam Development Corporation.

"I don't know if Yoo Dong-gyu provided confidential information to [those centered on the Daejang-dong scandal], as there is no reason or necessity for him to inform me, the mayor, of the criminal activities committed."

The Daejang-dong development issue was first raised in late 2021, just few months ahead of the 2022 presidential election.

The controversy raised questions as to how the private company Hwacheon Daeyu, a small company, at only one week after its founding, was able to win a major development project by the Seongnam city government in 2015.

Hwacheon Daeyu, with 50 million won ($40,000) in capital and no prior achievements, was able to land a 1.5-trillion-won development project even as it was included in a Hana Bank consortium.

Hwacheon Daeyu is a company created by former MoneyToday journalist Kim Man-bae, and the stakes of the companies are owned by seven Cheonhwa Dongin affiliates.

The first three paper affiliates are owned by Kim's family members, including his wife and sister. The rest are owned by people that are currently under investigation for planning the scheme including the lawyer Nam Wook, accountant Jeong Young-hak and former MoneyToday reporter Bae Seong-jun.

While 590 billion won was handed to the shareholders of the special company to be used for the development of Daejang-dong, Hwacheon Daeyu and Cheonhwa Dongin took over 400 billion won despite having invested only around 350 million won.

Seongnam Development Corporation only pocketed 183 billion won despite its 25 billion won investment.

Nam, during a court hearing last year, claimed that he had been told by Kim Man-bae that part of the stakes in Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1 is actually owned by DP leader Lee.

Asked why he didn't mention it earlier, Nam was reported to have said that he kept quiet because of the presidential election.

"Cheonhwa Dongin received 201.8 billion won from the Daejang-dong development project," Lee said. "Several billion won were given as a form of loan by Kim Man-bae, while some were used in buying stocks and real estate," DP chair Lee said in the statement. "If it were mine, would Kim have spent it so recklessly?"

Appearing at the prosecutors' office Saturday, Lee claimed that the Yoon government was destroying the rules of law and the constitution.

"Remember this scene today," Lee said while reading from the statement he took out of his pocket.

However, he did not answer other questions asked by reporters.

The prosecutors' office denied Lee's accusations of being politically motivated.

The prosecution told the JoongAng Ilbo that no delays were made during the investigation.

"There is so much to investigate, and the range is wide as this is a case where the project has lasted for an extensive period," a prosecutor told the JoongAng Ilbo.

The projectors plan to summon DP leader Lee for a second questioning on the same case.

While the prosecutors were arranging the summoning with Lee's lawyer, the DP leader announced that he would meet with the investigators for questioning on Saturday as he is busy working during the week.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]