Korean opposition leader's closest aide detained... Court "fear of destruction of evidence and escape"

Jeong Jin-sang, leader of the South Korean opposition Democratic Party, is accused of giving, receiving, or promising bribes to a land developer in Daejang-dong to make huge profits. The head of the Office for Policy Coordination was detained. Chung is said to be the closest aide to party leader Lee Jae-myung, and the investigation into Lee is likely to accelerate.

Judge Kim Se-yong of the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Chung on the 19th. Judge Kim said, "There are concerns about the destruction of evidence and escape."

The warrant has attracted a lot of attention because Chung's charges are closely related to Lee's investigation. This is because it is related to a breach of trust investigation that allowed the Daejang-dong private sector to make huge profits and caused damage to the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation.

South Korean prosecutors applied four charges to Chung's arrest warrant; "bribery after wrongdoing," "bribery under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Certain Crimes," "violation of the Anti-Corruption Act," and "aiding the destruction of evidence."

According to the prosecution, in February 2015, in exchange for selecting the Daejang-dong development operator, Chung offered Kim Man-bae, a major shareholder of the private company Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management. There are suspicions that the 24.5% stake will be shared with Kim Young, vice president of the Democratic Research Institute, and Yoo Dong-gyu, former planning director of the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation. Proceeds from the contracted shareholding ratio will reach 42.8 billion won (about US$30 million) excluding taxes.

From February 2013 to October 2020, Mr. Chung said that he had sought convenience from Mr. Kim Man-bae and Mr. Nam Wook, the owner of the private company "Chenghu Dojin No. 4", for a total of six times. There is also a suspicion that he received 140 million won (about $90,000).

Also, from July 2013 to March 2017, secrets from Seongnam City and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation were leaked to private companies in Daejang-dong so that they could be selected as the company to develop the new city. There are also suspicions that he made Lakeside Construction carry out and construct the project and obtained a development profit equivalent to 21 billion won (about $ 15 million).

Furthermore, in September last year, when the prosecutor's office was about to be raided over the Daejang-dong development scandal, he is also accused of instructing Yoo former to throw his mobile phone out the window.