Lee Jae-myung Investigated for Suspected Remittances to North Korea: Democratic Party Strongly Criticizes Prosecution’s Actions

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is entering the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do on the afternoon of the 12th to be investigated as a suspect in connection with the suspicion of Ssangbangwool Group sending money to North Korea. Reporter Shin So-young [email protected]

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was investigated by the prosecution for the second time on the afternoon of the 12th as a suspect in connection with Ssangbangwool Group’s suspicion of remittances to North Korea. Including investigations on other charges, this is his sixth appearance at the prosecution. The Democratic Party strongly criticized the prosecution’s notification of re-summoning Representative Lee, who was on his 13th day of fasting, as a “judicial atrocity.” At 1:24 p.m. on this day, Representative Lee met with reporters in front of the back gate of the building before appearing at the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office and said, “I will see if (the prosecution) presents evidence that I am involved in Ssangbangwool’s remittance to North Korea.” Over the years, they changed topics such as payment of attorney fees, payment of smart farms, and payment of visit expenses to North Korea, and mobilized dozens of prosecutors and hundreds of investigators, conducted hundreds of searches and seizures, and investigated hundreds of people, but they could not find a single piece of evidence. “The reason is because it is not true,” he said. He also emphasized, “I am not foolish enough to commit such a serious crime as asking an unknown gangster and a corrupt businessman who used to be an illegal loan shark to hand over a large sum of money worth 10 billion won to North Korea in order to visit North Korea and take a picture.” . At the same time, Representative Lee added, “No matter how much you try to call me and make me look like a criminal, facts cannot be created that do not exist,” adding, “The government is short, and the people and history are eternal.” Representative Lee is accused of third-party bribery on behalf of Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae, who was involved in sending a total of $8 million to North Korea on behalf of Gyeonggi Province, including $5 million for the project to support the creation of a smart farm in 2019 and $3 million for the Gyeonggi Province Governor’s visit to North Korea. Unlike the first investigation on the 9th, which lasted for about 7 hours, today’s investigation ended in 1 hour and 50 minutes. Representative Lee left the prosecutor’s office after the investigation and said, “I don’t think it’s going well because they’re trying to tie (me) to something that has nothing to do with me.” He added, “I tried to ask formal questions twice, such as ‘Isn’t it true that Gyeonggi Province promoted humanitarian projects against North Korea?’ “I cannot understand why they summoned me for questioning,” he criticized. Representative Lee said that unlike the first investigation, when he refused to sign and seal the interrogation report, saying ‘the purpose of the statement was not properly reflected’, he completed signing and sealing after this investigation. Attorney Park Gyun-taek, representing Lee’s defense attorney, said, “Regarding the fact that Representative Lee’s statement was reported to the media without distorting its purpose, we verbally filed a complaint against a prosecution official on charges of leaking confidential information in the course of official duties.” In addition, “The criminal facts of the indictment of Chairman Kim Seong-tae (the ringleader in the third-party bribery charges) and Lee Hwa-young, former vice-governor of Gyeonggi Province for Peace, are different. The basic facts themselves (as claimed by the prosecution) seem to be wrong,” the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office said this evening, saying, “We will conclude the investigation to summon Representative Lee today and proceed with future judicial procedures in accordance with evidence and legal principles,” and announced that an arrest warrant will be issued soon. It appears that a charge will be made. The Democratic Party held a general meeting of lawmakers that day and strongly criticized the prosecution. Secretary-General Jo Jeong-sik said at the General Assembly, “It is unprecedented in history to summon an opposition party leader while on a hunger strike, but additional summons were made,” and fiercely criticized, “This is a judicial atrocity by the cruel and vicious ‘Political Prosecutor Yoon Seok-yeol’ that goes beyond the cycle of humiliation.” Remarks were also made publicly that seemed to request that the motion to arrest Representative Lee be rejected. Rep. Park Beom-gye (Chairman of the Prosecutors’ Autocracy and Political Oppression Committee) said, “We must now look at this case from a new perspective,” and added, “We cannot obey and obey this judicial disposition. He argued, “We can never give Lee Jae-myung over to them (the prosecution).” Representative Lee’s health, who has been fasting for nearly two weeks, is getting worse. At the general meeting that day, Democratic Party members decided to convey to Representative Lee their request to stop his fasting. However, Representative Lee’s will is stubborn, and the President’s Office and the ruling party do not even consider the demands he made when he started the hunger strike in the first place, such as △ a public apology for the president’s destruction of people’s livelihood and damage to democracy, △ declaration of opposition to the discharge of contaminated water from Japan’s Fukushima, and △ reform of state administration. There is no clear reason to stop fasting. In response to a reporter’s question, “Does the President’s Office have any plans to ask Representative Lee to suspend his fast?”, an official from the President’s Office made it clear that they had no intention of doing so, saying, “It may be advisable for the President’s Office not to mention political issues as much as possible.” Kang Min-guk, senior spokesperson for the People Power Party, said, “No matter how haggard he is and how hard he tries to cosplay as a victim, the fact that does not change is that Representative Lee is only a suspect in ‘illegal remittances to North Korea’ and disorderly conduct of the national flag.” working. He said, “There is no reason for our party to participate in the show like a back dancer when a ‘fasting show’ is being held.” Reporter Lee Woo-yeon [email protected] Reporter Lee Jeong-ha [email protected]
2023-09-12 10:43:11
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