Kim Man-bae, key Daejang-dong scandal figure, arrested again
![Kim Man-bae, former journalist and key figure in the Daejang-dong scandal walks into the Seoul Central District Court upon a hearing about his arrest warrant on Friday. Kim was arrested three months of his release from detention in November. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/02/19/6459e540-b337-4cd9-a4f7-b916dc4e83c2.jpg)
Kim Man-bae, former journalist and key figure in the Daejang-dong scandal walks into the Seoul Central District Court upon a hearing about his arrest warrant on Friday. Kim was arrested three months of his release from detention in November. [YONHAP]
Kim Man-bae, a former journalist and a key figure in the Daejang-dong land development scheme in which Democratic Party Chair Lee Jae-myung is implicated, was arrested on Saturday just three months after his release.
Kim was released in November after spending a year in detention on charges related to the Daejang-dong scandal.
The prosecutors accuse Kim of trying to destroy or hide evidence regarding ill-gotten profits.
The former journalist arrest comes two days after the prosecutors sought an arrest warrant against DP Chair Lee.
Lee has been accused by the prosecutors of approving the development of Daejang-dong, which was devised to funnel huge profits to private companies connected to Lee when he was Seongnam city’s mayor.
In a 175-page document submitted to the court, prosecutors claim that the DP chair contributed to the causing of 489.5 billion won ($382 million) in financial damages to the Seongnam Development Corporation in a breach of trust by approving the removal of a profit-sharing arrangement for the Daejang-dong project, enabling private contractors to pocket huge profits between August 2014 to January this year.
Lee has been also accused of tampering with witnesses while trying to delay the investigations.
As prosecutors are required to obtain parliamentary approval to arrest a sitting lawmaker, a Seoul district court is expected to send a request to the National Assembly through the prosecution and Justice Ministry to seek consent for Lee's arrest.
The National Assembly speaker will report the request during the first plenary session after receiving the document, expected to be around Feb. 24, and will have to put the arrest motion to a vote within 72 hours.
As the liberal DP holds a parliamentary majority of 169 seats, the body is unlikely to approve a motion consenting to Lee's arrest.
BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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