The Democratic Party of Korea will launch a 'political prosecution investigation' task force on the 27th in relation to President Lee Jae-myung's 'allegations of remittances to North Korea.'
Kim Hyun-jung, the floor spokesperson, met with reporters after a closed policy coordination meeting at the National Assembly that morning and noted, “Based on the exclusive interview with Chairman Bae Sang-yun of the KH Group regarding the remittances to North Korea, we plan to launch the investigation task force into the political prosecution tomorrow.”
In a previous interview with SBS reported on the 24th, Chairman Bae said regarding the remittances to North Korea, “How can Gyeonggi Province be involved in secretly giving money to (North Korea)? This is entirely unrelated to Governor Lee Jae-myung and Gyeonggi Province.” He also stated that his agreement with Chairman Kim Sung-tae of SSANGBANGWOOL to do business with North Korea was pursued secretly for business benefits, unrelated to Gyeonggi Province.
In relation to this, Kim Byung-ki, the acting party representative and floor leader, also posted on Facebook the day before, saying, “The truth has emerged that the Yoon Suk-yeol prosecution dictatorship government and the political prosecution’s conspiracy to eliminate Lee Jae-myung and false charges are true,” and added, “An immediate reinvestigation is necessary for the establishment of the truth.” He also indicated plans to take all measures, including the establishment of a special organization for truth verification.
The allegations surrounding the remittances to North Korea involve the support costs for the smart farm project that Gyeonggi Province promised to pay to the North (5 million dollars) from January 2019 to January 2020, and the expenses for President Lee's visit to North Korea (3 million dollars) which were allegedly covered by SSANGBANGWOOL for a North Korean official. In this case, President Lee was indicted in June of last year and is currently undergoing first trial at the Suwon District Court. However, due to various interpretations regarding the constitutional privilege of non-prosecution for presidents, it remains unclear whether the trial will proceed. Previously, trials related to the election law violation case of President Lee and the Daejang-dong case have been suspended.