Jeong Jin-sang Argues He Never Knew the Existence of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1 and Never Received Any Shares

Jeong Jin-sang, former secretary on political affairs and coordination to the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is absorbed in thought while receiving questions from the press on his way to his warrant review at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on November 18, 2022. Seong Dong-hun

On January 30, Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung’s former secretary on political affairs and coordination and his close aide, Jeong Jin-sang argued that he never knew about the existence of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1, which received profits from the Daejang-dong development project, and that he never received any shares of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1 from Kim Man-bae.

Prosecutors believe Jeong reported the plan to receive 24.5% (42.8 billion won) of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1 shares from Kim Man-bae to Lee and received Lee’s approval, but Jeong publicly refuted that it was not true.

On Monday, Jeong’s legal representative released a statement and announced, “Jeong did not know the existence of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1,” and argued, “He never received any shares of Cheonhwa Dongin from Kim.”

Jeong’s lawyer said, “According to the press coverage, the sources of which can be traced to the prosecutors, a person involved in the Daejang-dong project claimed that Kim said several times that he borrowed the money used to finance the project at the time from Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1 after receiving Jeong Jin-sang’s consent.” However, the attorney argued that Jeong had never exchanged such a conversation with Kim as mentioned in the press reports.

Jeong’s attorney said, “The Daejang-dong insider is only relaying something he claims to have heard from Kim, so his argument is not credible.”

In the written statement that Lee Jae-myung submitted to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office when he was interrogated for allegations connected to Daejang-dong on January 28, Lee argued, “I have no connection with Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1, and I was never even aware of its existence before the media coverage.”

However, the prosecutors stipulated in the written arraignment for the Daejang-dong party (violation of the Act on the Prevention of Conflict of Interest Related to Duties of Public Servants) that “Lee agreed to receive half of Kim’s Daejang-dong shares in exchange for favors in the project.” The prosecutors also prosecuted Jeong for improper action after acceptance of a bribe in connection to this case last December.