hankyoreh

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, enters his party’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on the night of Oct. 19 amid an ongoing standoff between the party and prosecutors over a raid of the Institute for Democracy, the party’s policy think tank. (pool photo)

Prosecutors arrested Kim Yong, a close associate of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, amid their reinvestigation of alleged special favors in a development project in the Daejang neighborhood of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

The prosecutors reportedly acquired evidence indicating that the 56-year-old vice president of the think tank Institute for Democracy received hundreds of millions of won last year from a private developer in Daejang. As they gear up to focus their investigation on the fate of that money, signs point to the possibility that Lee himself may also become a target.

The Democratic Party suspended a parliamentary audit in the National Assembly, objecting vehemently to what they called the prosecution’s attempt to “frame this as an election funds issue.”

On Wednesday morning, the third anti-corruption division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, headed by chief prosecutor Kang Baek-sin, announced that Kim had been arrested on a warrant issued by a court on charges of violating the Political Funds Act.

In addition to a search and seizure conducted at Kim’s home, nine prosecutors and investigators were sent that afternoon to raid the Institute for Democracy’s offices in the Democratic Party headquarters in Seoul’s Yeouido neighborhood.

Democratic Party lawmakers blocked the team from conducting the raid, however, describing the attempt at a search and seizure on the top opposition party’s headquarters as an “act unprecedented in South Korea’s political history.”

The prosecutors said they have evidence that Kim Yong asked Yoo Dong-gyu, former chief of planning for the Seongnam Development Corporation, for campaign funds before allegations were raised about kickbacks in the Daejang neighborhood development project in September 2021, and that a private sector contractor in the project handed over hundreds of millions of won.

The prosecutors are reportedly investigating whether that money was used in Lee Jae-myung’s campaign to become the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. “The arrest warrant states that 800 million won was delivered for funding the presidential campaign between April and August 2021,” said a source with the Democratic Party. 800 million won amounts to roughly US$558,500.

Testimony by Yoo was reportedly decisive in the prosecutors’ decision to abruptly arrest a close associate of the leader of Korea’s largest opposition party. On Sept. 26, the prosecutors charged Yoo without detaining him in connection with corruption in the development of Wirye New Town.

Yoo is already on trial after being detained and charged during the first phase of the investigation into the Daejang neighborhood development project in October 2021. He was released from Seoul Detention Center on Wednesday, following the expiration of a six-month extension of his detention.

During the parliamentary audit of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office held the previous day, Democratic Party lawmakers suggested that the prosecutors had taken a carrot-and-stick approach with Yoo and released him in exchange for turning state’s evidence.

“That’s not the case. We’re investigating him as a suspect in a separate case. The Daejang neighborhood development case is under investigation,” responded Song Gyeong-ho, director of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

“My understanding is that the prosecutors didn’t ask the court to put [my client] back in detention when they applied to merge the Daejang neighborhood trial with the Wirye New Town trial. I don’t know anything about [the campaign funds] because I’m not involved in that,” Yoo’s attorney told the Hankyoreh.

The fact that Yoo had spoken with Kim on the phone shortly before the prosecutors carried out their raid last September made waves when it came to light back in January.

Kim denied the allegations at the time, remarking that “it’s entirely normal to talk to the person involved to confirm the facts.”

Following his arrest on Wednesday, the Democratic Party’s public relations office conveyed Yoo’s remarks that “allegations about accepting illegal funds are completely untrue” and that he will “use every means to set this right.”

During the first phase of the investigation into the Daejang neighborhood development project last year, the prosecutors were unable to find any links to Lee Jae-myung. With Kim’s arrest, the prosecutors are expected to tighten the screws on the Democratic Party chief.

Kim Yong is a close associate of Lee’s who served as his spokesperson while Lee was governor of Gyeonggi Province. Kim was recently named deputy director of the Institute for Democracy, a think tank for the Democratic Party.

When Yoo’s name was raised as one of Lee’s associates after allegations of kickbacks in the Daejang neighborhood development project were raised last year, Lee said, “I guess my associates would be Jeong Jin-sang and Kim Yong.”

The Democratic Party has strongly objected that the prosecutors’ moves amount to suppression of the opposition.

Park Hong-keun, floor leader of the Democratic Party, condemned the prosecutors’ actions as an “unprecedented raid of the opposition party’s headquarters” and instructed party lawmakers to immediately adjourn the parliamentary audit and gather at headquarters.

Wednesday evening, the Democratic Party held a rally at its headquarters with lawmakers, party members and supporters to object to the prosecutors’ actions.

“While [Kim Yong] is alleged to have received hundreds of millions of won, he denies it. For the Democratic Party, it’s difficult to ascertain the facts of the case given the conflicting claims. For the time being, we’ll have to wait and see how the prosecutors’ investigation plays out,” said Kim Eui-kyeom, party spokesperson, in a written statement.

But Kim also mentioned indications that the prosecutors have been attempting to cajole or coerce Yoo into testifying, showing that the Democratic Party is distrustful of the prosecutors’ investigation.

By Jeon Gwang-joon, staff reporter; Um Ji-won, staff reporter

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