Protest once morest arrest following returning to Korea last year
‘Daejang-dong 4’ does not include arrest
Attorney Nam’s ‘suspicion of appeasement’
Officials at the time “unfounded”
Attorney Nam Wook (pictured left), a private developer of Daejang-dong, attends the first trial on the 30th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the lobbying and preferential treatment of the Daejang-dong development project. Man-bae Kim (center), a major shareholder of Hwacheon Dae-yu, and former lawmaker Sang-do Kwak are leaving the court following the trial on the day. yunhap news
It was found that lawyer Nam Wook, the owner of ‘Chunhwa Dongin No. 4’, claimed that “the investigation team promised to investigate without detention” in the reason for non-attendance submitted to the former Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office’s investigation team following arrest.
As a result of the coverage of the Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 30th, Attorney Nam submitted a statement of protest and non-attendance to the entire investigation team following being arrested in November of last year. In this explanation, Attorney Nam argued to the effect that “the investigation team promised to conduct an investigation without detention.” However, it is said that the reason for non-attendance did not include specific details such as “the prosecution promised to arrest only four people, including Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management.” When Attorney Nam was arrested along with Mr. Kim in November of last year, he refused to be investigated by the former investigation team and submitted a written reason for non-attendance. The former investigation team arrested and investigated lawyer Nam at the time when he refused to investigate even though he was in custody.
Attorney Nam was arrested at the airport right following returning from the United States in October of last year. The former investigative team continued the investigation following releasing the male lawyer without requesting an arrest warrant. Then, in November of the same year, he requested an arrest warrant for Mr. Kim once more, along with an arrest warrant for Nam’s lawyer. At the time, it was known that Attorney Nam appealed for leniency, saying that he would donate all of the proceeds from the Daejangdong project that might be immediately transferred.
At the trial held at the Seoul Central District Court on the 28th, a lawyer for former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do said, “The prosecution arrested only four people, including Kim, former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation planning headquarters director Yoo Dong-gyu, former Seongnam City Council chairman Choi Yun-gil, and one public official, and told them to return to Korea as they will finish the case. Didn’t you come home with an offer? You responded to the investigation following receiving an offer from the prosecution to be lenient, but did you testify to the effect that you might no longer trust the prosecutor?” Attorney Nam replied, “Yes.”
The former investigation team properly investigated statements from lawyers such as Nam and others to the effect that ‘Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung (currently the Democratic Party representative) raised 4.25 billion won for local election funds and lobbying in Daejang-dong in 2014-2015 and delivered a significant amount to Mr. Kim.’ Suspicions arose that he had not done so.
A key member of the former investigation team said that the allegation of appeasement by a lawyer was “unfounded.” Regarding the suspicion that the investigation team did not investigate the circumstances of receiving political funds related to Lee, the investigation team denied, saying, “We might not find any clues to the investigation because the lawyers and other related persons did not make statements.”