Another revelation in the ‘Daejang-dong trial’
The reason for recruiting Kim Man-bae in the early stage of the business
“Kim, Kwang-jae Lee, Tae-nyeon Kim, etc.
Lee Jae-myung tried to convince him”
Attorney Nam Wook testified, and claimed that Democratic Party representative Lee Jae-myung had a stake in ‘Cheonhwa-dong No. 1’ established by private businesses in Daejang-dong, that the ‘mayor’s share’ at the time was understood to include not only Lee’s closest aides, but Lee as well. As for the use of the stake, he said, “I heard that it was with President Lee’s presidential election funds and retirement funds.”
Attorney Nam Wook, who appeared as a witness in the trial on the 25th Division of the 22nd Criminal Agreement Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jun-cheol) on suspicion of preferential treatment for development in Daejang-dong, revealed this in cross-examination attorney Yoo Dong-gyu, former head of planning headquarters of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation.
Attorney Nam continued to bombard Lee on this day as well. Yoo’s side, who was being cross-examined, and the male lawyer, who stood in the witness stand, discussed the name ‘Lee Jae-myeong’ as if they agreed. On the date of the 21st, he testified to the effect that ‘the stake in Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1 belongs to Mayor Lee Jae-myung’, followed by specific evidence about the people involved in the stake and its use . When asked by Yoo’s attorney if “Mayor Lee’s shares” include not only Yoo’s former headquarters chief, Jin-sang Jeong, head of the Political Coordination Office of the representative office of the Democratic Party, and Yong Kim, former vice president of the Democratic Research Institute, but also CEO Jae-myung Lee, attorney Nam replied, “I understand that.” He continued, “Since Mayor Lee Jae-myung is in charge of (the Daejang-dong project), I thought (the shares of Seongnam City officials in the mayor’s share share) was decided according to the intention of Mayor Lee Jae- myung.”
When asked about the purpose of Mayor Lee’s share, former boss Yoo’s side asked, “Do you know that Mayor Lee Jae-myung even considered the presidential election?” Attorney Nam replied, “I know you have the presidential election in mind if there was an opportunity.” He continued, “I heard that I gave campaign money for a total of four elections, in 2014, the 2017 presidential election (Democratic Party), the 2018 provincial governor, and the 2021 presidential election. He said he knew about this after hearing from former the head of Yu and Man-bae Kim, the main shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management.
Attorney Nam argued to the effect that the process of reducing his share was also linked to CEO Lee. He said, “I was very angry with Mr. Kim (the stake was reduced), and as I understand it at the time, I was worried that including the expenses of the June 2014 election (Seongnam Mayor re-election) would become a problem while I was being investigated by the Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office, so it took me out of the business. I understood that they were trying to ban them,” he said. Attorney Nam said that the reason for attracting Kim Man-bae at the beginning of the business was that “(Mr. Kim) has a close relationship with influential politicians who are familiar with Mayor Lee Jae-myeong, so he wanted to ask them do that. play a part in persuading the mayor.”
Regarding the ‘powerful politician’, he said, “I heard that they are former legislators Lee Kwang-jae, Kim Tae-nyeon, and Lee Hwa-young,” but “I did not directly confirm whether Mr. Kim was actually doing activities ( persuading the mayor through them).Attorney Nam also argued that the establishment of the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation was promoted by CEO Lee.
Attorney Nam’s testimony in court that day supports the prosecution’s view of the suspected favorable development in Daejang-dong as ‘privatization of local autonomy’. Prosecutors suspect that money, including election money, flowed to Lee, who was the final decision-maker, in exchange for the Daejang-dong gang receiving preferential treatment and making huge profits.
