Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chief of the Democratic Party of Korea, gestures as he speaks during a media briefing at the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, Oct. 21. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun

Prosecutors' investigations corner Lee Jae-myung after his key aides arrested on bribery charges

By Lee Hyo-jin

Lee Jae-myung's return to politics has been smooth. He won a National Assembly seat in the by-election held in June, merely three months after his defeat in the March 9 presidential election. He then became chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the main opposition and majority party controlling the National Assembly.

Though it's been smooth sailing for his post-presidential election career, his fate as a politician is now being put to the test. He is implicated in multiple corruption allegations. If found guilty on any of the counts, the 57-year-old lawmaker's political career could come to an abrupt end.

In recent months, the prosecutors' offices in Seoul, Suwon and Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province and Daejeon have been ramping up their corruption and bribery investigations involving the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader.

As the authorities continue to investigate the allegations, the situation has been turning unfavorable for Lee. Along with seizure of evidence and searches at the party's headquarters, his close aides have been arrested or indicted amid the accelerating investigations which are expected to eventually hone in on Lee.

Speculations encircling the DPK leader are concentrated within the period when he was mayor of Seongnam, the second-largest city of Gyeonggi Province, between 2010 and 2018, and then took office as Gyeonggi governor from 2018 to 2021.

The allegations include a controversial land development scandal which has now grown into illegal political funding allegations, bribery speculations involving the underwear company Ssangbangwool and another bribery case involving a city-owned football team.

Corruption-ridden urban development project

More than a year after an investigation began into a controversial land development project in Seongnam, which was initially launched in September 2021, it seems to be picking up speed in the last few weeks after revelations were made by key figures.

Daejang-dong area in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, is seen in this photo taken on Sept. 24, 2021. Newsis

The urban development project to build apartment complexes in the city's Daejang-dong began in 2015 when Lee was mayor of the city.

The key figures in the case are Seongnam Development Corp.'s former acting President Yoo Dong-gyu, Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management owner Kim Man-bae and lawyer Nam Wook. They have been accused of manipulating the public bidding procedure to have Kim's lesser-known asset firm selected as a private partner in the public-private consortium.

The asset management firm eventually raked in astronomical dividends from the project amounting to 57.7 billion won, which was more than 1,000 times its initial investment.

Until recently, the prosecutors had not found any meaningful connections between the development project and Lee, who has been arguing that his only fault was in failing to properly oversee the project as the city's top-decision maker, stressing that he did not gain a single penny from it.

However, Yoo, who was indicted in October last year, started to speak upon his release after a year of pre-trial detention.