DP chief slams prosecutors for summoning him during campaign period

Politics

Published: 02 Apr. 2024, 18:48 Updated: 02 Apr. 2024, 22:25

DP chief slams prosecutors for summoning him during campaign period

Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung speaks to the press as he attends a trial at Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Tuesday. Tuesday marked the DP chief's second trial during the campaign period for the April 10 general election. [YONHAP]

Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung attended a trial on Tuesday ahead of the April 10 general election and criticized the prosecution for summoning him during the campaigning period.

“The official election campaign runs for 13 days, of which I need to spend three days attending trials,” Lee told reporters in front of Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, as he attended his trial on the Daejang-dong development scandal and other consolidated cases. He expressed regret for being unable to focus fully on the election during this critical time.

“I believe this is what the political prosecution wanted by abusing its rights to indict,” he added.

The DP chief made a similar remark as he attended a trial on Friday, criticizing the prosecution.

Tuesday marked the second trial Lee attended during the official election campaign period, which began last Thursday. He is set to attend his third trial during the period next Tuesday, just a day ahead of the general election.

The court rejected Lee's request to postpone the trial date set a day before the election.

“I hope the party members and supporters would understand how I feel about being unable to take full responsibility as a representative of the major party at this very moment,” Lee said.

Lee did not respond to a reporter's question about why he blamed the prosecution when the court decided the trial dates.

The DP chief has been indicted for giving benefits to a private asset management company, Hwacheon Daeyu, allowing it to earn profits of nearly 790 billion won ($585 million) while serving as the Seongnam Mayor from 2010 to 2018. He is also accused of giving preferential treatment to a private developer in the Baekhyeon-dong development project between April 2014 and March 2018, resulting in at least 20 billion won in damages to the Seongnam Development Corporation.

The prosecutors also indicted him for allegedly accepting bribes in the form of sponsorships for Seongnam FC, a football team owned by the city, from major companies like Naver and Doosan, totaling 13.3 billion won, in exchange for construction permits for their headquarters in Seongnam.

People Power Party (PPP) interim leader Han Dong-hoon speaks during election campaigning in Jung District, Daejeon, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Meanwhile, the rival People Power Party (PPP)'s interim leader, Han Dong-hoon, visited the Chungcheong area on the same day for election campaigning.

During his speech at Cheonan, South Chuncheong, he stressed the importance of "party unity" ahead of an important day.

His remarks came after Ham Un-kyung, running in Seoul’s Mapo-B district, asked President Yoon Suk Yeol to resign from the party following a public address on Monday on the medical school enrollment quota hike. However, Ham retracted his statement the same day, saying that he would trust the president's promise to engage with other organizations to address the medical school enrollment issue.

Han also responded to former President Moon Jae-in, who criticized the Yoon government for being the worst administration in his lifetime the day before. He asked if the former president does not remember how the country fell apart with skyrocketing real estate prices during his administration.

After visiting the South Chungcheong region and Sejong, Han appealed to voters in Daejeon and concluded his campaigning in Cheongju and Eunseong County in North Chungcheong. Election campaigning will continue through April 9.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]