Director General Jang Young-ha, known as the 'Lee Jae-myung sniper,' noted on the 18th that he would file a criminal complaint against Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate from the Democratic Party of Korea, for breach of duty and abuse of power. He claimed that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with NCSoft during Lee's tenure as mayor of Seongnam regarding the sale of state-owned land was "an illegal act that granted preferential treatment to a specific corporation."
On the same day, Director General Jang held a press conference at the People Power Party's central party headquarters and claimed, "In 2018, before candidate Lee Jae-myung resigned from his mayoral position, he signed an MOU to sell 25,000 pyeong of state-owned land at 641 Baekhyeon-dong in Seongnam's Pangyo district to NCSoft through a negotiated contract. After one failed bid, NCSoft won the contract." He argued that this was "a preferential pre-agreement that allowed a specific corporation to effectively preempt the land." He said that NCSoft, having signed the MOU with Seongnam City privately in advance, was structurally positioned to gain an advantageous position in the bidding process.
Director General Jang claimed that candidate Lee seriously undermined the neutrality and fairness of the administration regarding the land sale procedure.
He argued, "The subsequent mayor and related officials could not make independent judgments due to the previous MOU signing." He also pointed out circumstances suggesting that real estate advertisements were disseminated as if the establishment of the 'NCSoft Global R&D Center' was confirmed before the development of the site was finalized, stating, "This is a politically and administratively fraudulent act that was planned and executed meticulously in advance."
Director General Jang claimed that illegal circumstances were revealed in the audit results from the Board of Audit and Inspection. He noted, "According to the audit results, the land in question was not even officially designated by the Ministry of Science and ICT, and key contract provisions were deleted. Seongnam City did not conduct any management or oversight for two years after the sale," adding that the Board of Audit and Inspection made an illegal judgment.
At the conference, former Seongnam City Council member Yoo Jae-ho also testified that "there were no review procedures such as reporting to the city council or collecting residents' opinions during the MOU signing process." He said, "I was the first to confirm the fact of the non-public MOU signing, but Seongnam City refused to disclose the MOU document citing a 'confidentiality clause'" and added, "A bird's-eye view labeled 'NCSoft Research Center site' circulated in the area, creating an atmosphere that made it difficult for other corporations to participate."
Yoo alleged, "At that time, the land in question was appraised at 280 billion won, while its actual value was estimated to be over 1 trillion won," asserting that "had it been a normal competitive bid, many corporations would have competed, leading to a higher price." He also revealed that while serving as a city council member from the Democratic Party, he was isolated within his party when he opposed the MOU's cancellation, stating, "Opposing the mayor's policy led to pressure through nominations, and critical council members were thoroughly excluded."
Director General Jang stated, "Creating an atmosphere to make people unable to move is a typical tactic of candidate Lee. It is a broad form of gaslighting," and added, "I will file a criminal complaint against Lee Jae-myung and all related persons for breach of duty and abuse of power."
Meanwhile, Director General Jang criticized that despite Lee's eldest son, Lee Dong-ho, reportedly engaging in habitual illegal gambling worth over 230 million won and making misogynistic remarks online, only a fine of 5 million won was sought. He stated, "This is a serious challenge to the constitutional value of equality before the law and is far removed from common sense." He condemned, "If the family members repeatedly engage in acts that disregard moral standards and do not offer sincere apologies or responsible actions, the public qualification of a politician cannot help but be questioned."