Tag: Lee Jae-myung

So it was okay to investigate and jail former Presidents Park and Lee for corruption, but not okay to investigate Lee Jae-myung for arguably equal to or worse corruption:

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) staged a large-scale rally in central Seoul on Saturday to protest against the prosecution’s widening corruption probe into its embattled leader. 

Tens of thousands of party members joined the rally, as DP leader Lee Jae-myung is currently under investigation over corruption allegations surrounding a massive development project pushed for in Seongnam, south of Seoul, when he was the city’s mayor.

During the event, Lee accused prosecutors of hampering democracy by targeting him, President Yoon Suk Yeol’s former rival in the last presidential race. 

“Prosecutors are taking major posts in the government, and they are threatening people with arrest warrants, instead of soldiers’ guns and swords,” Lee said during his closing remarks. “Politics is giving its place to violent ruling.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this protests shows that Lee must think he is close to being charged and headed to jail.

It has always been pay to play in North Korea, so Lee had to have offered something to visit and it appears the offer was $3 million according to this guy:

An arrested underwear tycoon allegedly said he delivered US$8 million to North Korea in 2019 to help promote Gyeonggi Province’s smart farm project and then Gov. Lee Jae-myung’s visit to the North, informed officials said Tuesday.

Kim Seong-tae, former chairman of underwear maker Ssangbangwool Group, who was nabbed in Thailand in early January after months on the run, reportedly made the controversial remarks during questioning by prosecutors in Suwon, 34 kilometers south of Seoul.

The Suwon District Court issued an arrest warrant for Kim on Jan. 20 on multiple charges, including embezzlement, bribery and the illegal transfer of cash to North Korea.

Previously, Kim told prosecutors that he only handed a total of over $5 million to North Korea on two occasions in 2019 to pursue economic cooperation rights involving the North.

As the prosecution presented other related documents, however, the underwear tycoon reportedly disclosed an additional remittance of $3 million to Pyongyang and the reasons for the cash payment, the officials said.

Kim allegedly said that $5 million was delivered in connection with Gyeonggi Province’s smart farm project in North Korea and the additional $3 million was intended to facilitate Lee’s visit to the North.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if Lee Jae-myung had won the presidency does anyone think any of this would have come out?

This could be bad news for opposition leader Lee Jae-myung:

A fugitive underwear tycoon nabbed in Thailand last week in connection with the prosecution’s ongoing investigation into opposition leader Lee Jae-myung’s corruption allegations returned home Tuesday.

Kim Seong-tae, former chairman of underwear maker Ssangbangwool Group, arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, around 8:20 a.m. via an Asiana Airlines flight from Bangkok.

He was apprehended by Thai police at a golf club near Bangkok a week ago, roughly eight months after he fled the country amid several high-profile corruption investigations.

Kim has been long sought after by prosecutors as a key suspect in a number of high-profile corruption investigations, including alleged payment of Lee’s attorney expenses by proxy, suspected embezzlement of company funds and alleged transfer of cash to North Korea.

The 55-year-old Kim, handcuffed and flanked by prosecution investigators, was asked if he had any relationship with Lee, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), by reporters at the airport but flatly said he did not know him at all.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is the first time I have read of a direct accusation against Lee Jae-myung from someone directly involved with the Daejang-dong real estate investment scandal:

Lawyer Nam Wook, a key figure in the Daejang-dong development corruption scandal, is surrounded by reporters as he walks to his trial at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

A key figure in the Daejang-dong corruption scandal said Monday he heard that Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung held a hidden stake through one of the investors in the project.  
   
Lawyer Nam Wook made the allegation at his trial on the Daejang-dong case at the Seoul Central District Court, hours after he was released from jail at midnight Sunday after his detention period expired. Nam is charged with breach of trust and bribery in the case.  
   
His case is believed by prosecutors to be part of a larger conspiracy concerning astronomical profits raked in by Hwacheon Daeyu, a previously obscure asset management company, and its Cheonhwa Dongin affiliates, from minuscule investments in a 2015 real estate development project in the Daejang-dong area of Seongnam, Gyeonggi, as well as suspicions about their true ownership. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

I am not sure what the prosecutors are hoping to find with this raid because you would think any evidence would have long been removed if it existed at all:

An apparently tearful opposition leader Lee Jae-myung cried foul Monday after prosecutors raided the headquarters of his Democratic Party (DP) in a corruption investigation that is zeroing in on him after the arrest of one of his closest aides.

Investigators made their way into the DP headquarters to search the office of Kim Yong, a longtime confidant of Lee, over allegations that he took 847 million won (US$591,000) from property developers in the suburban city of Seongnam in violation of the political fund law.

Kim, who was arrested Saturday, is deputy head of the DP-affiliated Institute for Democracy think tank. It was the second attempt to raid the DP headquarters after an earlier attempt fell through due to protests from party officials.

“The central headquarters building of the opposition party was violated in the middle of a parliamentary audit,” Lee told reporters in front of the party headquarters. “A terrible incident unprecedented in the history of democracy in the Republic of Korea is happening now.”

While speaking, Lee apparently became tearful, looked up at the sky and wiped his eye.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is just another example of the rule by law in South Korea instead of rule of law. Whatever political party is in power uses the rule by law principle to go after their political enemies and this is just the continuation of this.

It is going to be interesting to see how this turns out because can you imagine what would happen if politicians were indicted every time they lied during a campaign?:

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was indicted on Thursday for allegations that he violated the election law by making false statements related to two land development projects in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, while campaigning for the presidential election last year.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office charged Lee, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), with election law violations, one day before the expiry of the statute of limitations for his cases.

Lee is suspected of spreading false information related to a land development project in Seongnam’s Daejang-dong, in violation of the election law, by denying knowing a key figure of the project during his presidential campaign.

In a TV interview on Dec. 22 last year, Lee denied acquaintance with Kim Moon-ki, a former head of Seongnam Development Corp.’s project development team, during his time as Seongnam mayor between 2015 and 2016.

Kim was found dead the previous day amid an investigation into his alleged involvement in the Daejang-dong scandal. Civic groups filed complaints against Lee after photos were released showing Lee together with Kim and several others, including some from an extended overseas business trip in January 2015. But Lee has claimed that he did not know Kim because he was a low-level municipal employee.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I thought the accusations against Lee Jae-myung’s wife would just go away after the election, but it appears investigators must have some really good evidence to go after her like this:

 The wife of former ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung was grilled by police Tuesday about allegations related to her personal use of a provincial government corporate credit card years ago.

Kim Hye-kyung left the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency in Suwon, 50 kilometers south of Seoul, at about 6:50 p.m. after undergoing five hours of questioning, accompanied by her lawyer.

Upon emerging from the police agency, she was asked by reporters about whether she admitted to suspicions related to her corporate credit card use but did not reply.

Kim is accused of using a credit card of the Gyeonggi government for personal shopping and eating, while her husband was Gyeonggi governor from 2018-2021.

She is also suspected of forcing civil servants to run her personal errands, such as getting drug prescriptions, buying prescription drugs on her behalf and paying for meals at restaurants. 

Allegations of Kim’s corporate credit card misuse and other misconduct surfaced early this year ahead of the March 9 presidential election.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like Lee Jae-myung and Ahn Cheol-soo are going to keep themselves relevant in South Korea’s politics by running for office again in the National Assembly:

Former presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung and Ahn Cheol-soo declared their bids, Sunday, for parliamentary seats in the June 1 by-elections, transforming the event to one of potentially high political stakes. 

Lee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is the former Gyeonggi Province governor who lost the March 9 presidential election to President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol by a razor-thin margin, while Ahn Cheol-soo, the head of Yoon’s transition committee, also ran for president and merged his campaign with Yoon’s days prior to the election.

Lee will run for the seat representing Incheon’s Gyeyang-B district, which has been vacant since former DPK Chairman Rep. Song Young-gil resigned to run in the Seoul mayoral election in April, while Ahn will run for seat representing Bundang-A district of Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, left by the Kim Eun-hye of the People Power Party (PPP), the former presidential transition committee spokesperson who is now running for the Gyeonggi provincial governor post. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like a consequence of narrowing losing the ROK Presidential is that Lee Jae-myung is now open to being investigated:

Police raided Seongnam City Hall Monday over allegations that former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, who was mayor of Seongnam from 2010 to 2018, took donations from companies via the city’s football club, Seongnam FC.  
    
The Bundang Police Precinct announced Monday that they raided five divisions of the city government, including the planning and policy planning divisions. Lee’s home and other locations related to the case were not raided.  
   
“We cannot confirm specific investigation details such as what kind of documents were secured through the raid,” a spokesperson from the Bundang Police Precinct said. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Not smart of Lee Jae-myung to be insulting President Zelenskyy who maybe the most popular leader in the world right now:

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), has made an apology for his remarks about Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a TV debate Friday regarding the cause of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which drew a backlash both here and abroad. 

“Unlike my intentions, if my words caused misunderstanding to Ukrainians, I lacked the ability to express myself well,” Lee wrote on Facebook, Saturday, adding that his remarks were mainly aimed at pointing out the ill-founded diplomatic and security views of his main rival Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party rather than disparaging the Ukrainian president.

During the TV debate held, Friday, Lee said a novice politician with six months of political experience had become the country’s leader and caused a major clash by inciting Russia with a hasty promise regarding Ukraine’s admission into NATO. (……….)

Denouncing Lee as an international embarrassment, Yoon said he would make an apology to Ukraine on behalf of South Korea, citing posts critical of Lee’s remarks that have been uploaded on Reddit, a popular American online community.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.