Lee Jae-myung Innocent: Defense Claims Expose Corruption in Gyeonggi-do

On July 10, 2018, Gyeonggi-do Governor Yeonbu Lee Hwa-young receives an appointment letter from then-Gyeonggi-do Governor Lee Jae-myung. / Provided by Gyeonggi-do

Lawyer Kim Hyeon-cheol, the lawyer of former vice governor of Gyeonggi Province Lee Hwa-young, indicted in the “illegal remittances of Ssangbangwool to North Korea” case, said in the closing argument of the first trial : “I affirm that Lee Jae- myung’s innocence” and “Because Lee Jae-myung’s innocence means Lee Hwa-young’s innocence.” . Prosecutors are investigating whether in 2019 Vice Governor Lee reported remittances to North Korea to Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myeong, who was governor of Gyeonggi Province at the time, but Lee has not yet been indicted in this case. However, the lawyer who was supposed to defend former deputy governor Lee Hwa-young, Representative Lee Jae-myeong, claimed that he was not guilty. Then, some members of the audience applauded loudly and were stopped by the judge. The point of defending former Lieutenant Governor Lee is the same as admitting that Lee is bulletproof.

This process, which lasted a year and six months, was characterized from the beginning by a series of strange events. When it became known that former Lieutenant Governor Lee had said he “reported remittances to North Korea to Representative Lee,” his wife, a former activist, shouted at her husband in court to “come to his senses” and l The defense lawyer replaced himself. Subsequently, after a lawmaker close to Representative Lee contacted former Lt. Governor Lee’s wife and close associates, former Lt. Governor Lee recanted his statement and his lawyers made various attempts to delay the trial, including filing a motion to avoid court. This was a clear obstruction of justice. Then, the lawyer showed up at Lee Hwa-young’s first trial and shouted, “Lee Jae-myung is not guilty.”

In this case, the only people who deny the allegations are Representative Lee and former Lt. Governor Lee. Ssangbangwool executives and employees admitted to smuggling funds, and former Ssangbangwool president Kim Seong-tae even submitted a “receipt” to the prosecution showing that he delivered the money to and received it from a North Korean official. It was also claimed that in 2019 a North Korean official requested $5 million for a Mercedes-Benz or helicopter during Lee’s visit to North Korea, but a deal was reached for $3 million. How could all these statements and evidence be made up?

The person who served as candidate Lee Jae-myung’s spokesperson during the last presidential election was even indicted on charges of leaking court documents and evidence to Rep. Lee and others after being appointed to Lee’s defense team Hwa-young. The reason lawyers do this may be because they expect something in return. Indeed, in this general election, the lawyers who handled the cases of Representative Lee and his associates were nominated one after another as members of the National Assembly.

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