Bae, a key figure in the case of Kim Hye-kyung, the spouse of Lee Jae-myung, the new Democratic Party leader, appeared in the interrogation of the suspect (warrant substantive examination) on the 30th.
Bae, dressed in a black suit, entered the courtroom #401 of the Suwon District Court in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do around 10 am on the same day.
On that day, the prosecution emphasized the necessity of arrest due to concerns regarding evidence destruction, and the defense lawyers are said to have denied some of the charges.
After the substantive examination that lasted regarding 1 hour and 40 minutes, Bae, who left the courtroom, got into the police convoy without answering reporters’ questions such as “Do you admit the charges?” and “Is there any instructions from Kim Hye-kyung?”
Bae will be temporarily on standby at the Suwon Nambu Police Station detention center until a decision is made on whether to arrest him.
Even when he arrived at the southern part of Suwon, he remained silent and unanswered.
Bae is a key figure in this case, who is suspected of serving as Kim’s assistant while working for the provincial government office for three years from July 2018, when Lee was serving as governor of Gyeonggi Province, to September last year.
He was charged with paying for Kim’s personal food with a Gyeonggi corporate card during this period, or receiving an illegal prescription in the name of another person and delivering it to Kim (business breach).
The amount of corporate card misuse is said to be more than 100 cases, worth 20 million won, which is more than the initially known 700 to 80 cases, 7 million to 8 million won.
Earlier, when the allegations were raised during the 20th presidential election, Bae countered that it was a false fact, but civic groups and other civic groups accused Bae of violating the Public Official Election Act, saying that he had published false information.
Meanwhile, Kim Hye-kyung, who has been designated as Bae’s ‘superior’, appeared at the police on the followingnoon of the 23rd as a suspect and was investigated for regarding five hours. She is known to have consistently stated that Kim was never involved in the whole process of the alleged misappropriation of corporate cards.
Bae’s warrant substantive examination results are expected to be released later this followingnoon.
Shin Min-kyung, reporter at Hankyung.com [email protected]