Mayor Lee Jae-myung to Stand in Court, But Charges Dropped Against His Wife Kim Hye-kyung

[경향신문]

Governor of Gyeonggido Lee Jae-myung (photo) will stand in court. However, the prosecutors decided not to press charges against Governor Lee's wife, Ms. Kim Hye-kyung, who had been cited as the owner of the Twitter account widely known as “Hyegyeonggung Kim.”

On December 11, two days before the expiration of the statute of limitations on violations of the Public Official Election Act in the June 13 local elections, the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office announced that it would prosecute Mr. Lee for misfeasance and violation of the election act, but drop charges against his wife.

The Prosecution Service concluded that Mr. Lee was involved in three allegations--an attempt to force the admission of his older brother in a hospital, a case that the police sent to the Prosecution Service requesting prosecution; the impersonation of a prosecutor; and the exaggeration of the outcome of the Daejang-dong development project in Seongnam. Mr. Lee is accused of abusing his authority and hindering the exercise of rights for mobilizing public officials in trying to force his older brother into a mental hospital in 2012. He also impersonated a prosecutor at the time of the case of special favors in the sale of the Parkview apartments in Bundang in 2001. He was sentenced to a fine of 1.5 million won in the second trial, which he appealed, but his appeal was denied. He is also accused of spreading false information for claiming to have been “framed” in this case during the June 13 local elections, despite that his sentence had been finalized. He is also suspected of violating the election act (announcing false information) for announcing that he had attracted a certain amount of profits in connection to the Daejang-dong development project, despite that he had yet to secure such profits, in his official election report.

Prosecutors decided not to charge Mr. Lee on allegations linked to the scandal with actress Kim Bu-seon and rumors of his connections to the mob. As for his alleged membership of Ilbe, the prosecutors confirmed Mr. Lee's statement, that he only had a membership and was not active in the online community. Thus they decided to drop the false statement charge in connection to this allegation.

Governor Lee's wife, Ms. Kim was investigated by the Public Security Department of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office after being cited as the owner of the Twitter ID, @08__hkkim, "For Justice," also known as “Hyegyeonggung Kim.” However, she was not charged due to lack of evidence and because the allegations could not be defined as a crime. However, the prosecutors did recognize some of the allegations and decided to suspend legal proceedings until the unknown owner of this account, other than Kim, is identified.

Governor Lee said, "It is unfortunate, but it was a result I had expected, so I am not that surprised. I will leave it up to the court to uncover the truth and concentrate on gubernatorial affairs."