Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has been fined 3 million KRW for failing to appear in court. The fine was imposed by the court after Lee once again failed to appear as a witness in the trial concerning the Daejang-dong development scandal on the 24th.
On this day, the 22nd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (headed by Judge Cho Hyung-woo) held a trial session for Yoo Dong-gyu, former head of planning at Seongnam Development Corporation, who is accused of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
The court stated, “The witness has not appeared, and no additional statement has been submitted by Mr. Lee. In accordance with standard procedure, we will fine the witness 3 million KRW.” The proceedings concluded in just six minutes.
According to the Criminal Procedure Act, if a witness who has been duly summoned fails to appear without a valid reason, a fine of up to 5 million KRW may be imposed. If the witness does not appear again without a valid reason even after receiving a fine, they may be subject to a detention order within seven days, and enforced attendance may be implemented.
The court previously mentioned during the session on the 21st that it would consider imposing a fine if Lee did not appear on the 24th. The court scheduled four sessions from the 21st to the 31st to conduct witness examinations for Lee.
Prior to this, Lee submitted a notice of non-attendance to the court on the 14th, citing parliamentary activities and other trials as reasons for his absence. Nevertheless, the court decided to proceed with the witness examination, considering it necessary for the case. Lee did not attend the session on the 21st.
Meanwhile, Yoo Dong-gyu, along with Kim Man-bae, the largest shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, lawyer Nam Wook, accountant Jung Young-hak, and lawyer Jung Min-yong, have been indicted on charges of reaping unjust profits amounting to 788.6 billion KRW by exploiting insider information from Seongnam Development Corporation during the course of the Daejang-dong project from August 2014 to March 2015.