Key witness against DP chief Lee Jae-myung hospitalized after car hit by truck
![Yoo Dong-gyu enters the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul, to attend a trial on Dec. 4. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/12/06/e90cc95b-e823-40c7-897b-fe52770cba60.jpg)
Yoo Dong-gyu enters the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul, to attend a trial on Dec. 4. [YONHAP]
Yoo Dong-gyu is a former official at Seongnam Development Corp. and part of the DP chief's inner circle.
According to the police, the vehicle carrying Yoo was traveling on a highway in Euiwang, Gyeonggi, when it was rear-ended by a 5-ton truck at 8:30 p.m.
Yoo, who was sitting in the back seat, was rushed to a nearby hospital.
A YouTuber who hosts a regular show with Yoo said that the vehicle spun 180 degrees after being hit by the truck and stopped after smacking the central divider.
The YouTuber said that Yoo was in pain.
Yoo is a key witness in the Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong and Wirye development projects, which transpired when Lee was Seongnam's mayor.
The Daejang-dong development project scandal centers on allegations that an obscure private asset management company and its affiliates reaped exponential profits.
Similar allegations have been made regarding the Baekhyeon-dong development and Wirye development projects.
Yoo was crucial in convicting one of Lee’s close aides, Kim Yong, for bribery and illegal political fund-raising.
Kim, who was Lee's spokesperson when he was Gyeonggi governor and later deputy head of the DP-affiliated think tank Institute for Democracy after Lee became the party's chief, was given a five-year sentence on Nov. 30.
The court accepted Yoo's testimony that Kim took bribes from Daejang-dong developers to create a slush fund to use in Lee’s presidential campaign in 2022.
Yoo is also a key witness in several other current cases against Lee, including one accusing the DP chief of violating election laws when he denied knowing an employee of Seongnam Development Corp., which planned the Daejang-dong development project.
During the last presidential race, Lee denied knowing Kim Moon-ki despite going on an 11-day trip to Australia and New Zealand with him.
Yoo claimed Kim golfed and went sea fishing with Lee during the trip.
So far, five people connected to cases involving the DP chief have died.
Four of them died by suicide, including Kim Moon-ki. Two were key officials in Seongnam Development Corp.
During a foreign press conference, the DP leader was asked if he was a dangerous man given the death of the people involved in cases connected to him.
The DP chief blamed the prosecutors’ intense investigations for the deaths.
“I truly regret that people died while being investigated not because of problems that caused but because of the investigations against me,” Lee said. “I am not in the position where I could have had any influence on their death.”
BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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