Opposition leader appears for questioning by prosecutors

▲ Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung makes his statment before entering the prosecutors’ office for investigation in Suwon, Gyeonggi, Tuesday. 출처 : 산경투데이(https://www.sankyungtoday.com)

By Steve Yoon



Democratic Party(DP) leader Lee Jae-myung appeared at a prosecutors office for questioning over allegation of quid pro quo Tuesday, claiming that he is innocent.



Lee, leader of the main opposition DP, arrived at the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors Office located just south of Seoul at 10:20 a.m., accompanied by DP lawmakers including Ko Min-jung and Kim Tae-nyeon.



Prosecutors suspect Lee, who served as the mayor of Seongnam, is linked to allegations that the city government collected 17 billion won ($13.7 million) in corporate donations to its municipal football club in return for administrative favors between 2016 and 2018. In exchange for the sponsorship, the city government relaxed several development regulations as well as construction approvals.



Lee is currently also being investigated by prosecutors on several other cases including development projects, including the Daejang-dong development scandal.



The DP leader said what he did as mayor and what the employees of the Seongnam city government did was for the benefit of the Seongnam citizens.



"I do not mind them cursing me. But I cannot accept fabricating sincere efforts of me and Seongnam city government public officials for the people as a crime," Lee told reporters before entering the prosecutors' office.



“Not only is this unprecedented persecution the first summoning of a leader of a [main] opposition party in modern history, but it is also a judiciary coup by bringing back cases that have been cleared of suspicion,” he added.



Last year, prosecutors indicted a former head of Doosan Engineering Construction on charges of donating 5.5 billion won to Seongnam FC in exchange for business favors, and have since expanded the investigation to other firms.



Lee has denied any wrongdoing, claiming the prosecution investigation is a politically motivated to remove him and suppress the main opposition party.

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Opposition leader appears for questioning by prosecutors