Justice minister says Lee has nothing to do with appeal withdrawal in development case

Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho denied Monday that President Lee Jae Myung had any part in the prosecution's recent decision to not appeal a high-profile development corruption case stemming from his time as mayor of Seongnam. Jung made the remark as he arrived for work at the justice ministry in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, as controversy has flared up over the prosecution's failure to appeal the case by last Friday's deadline, which critics allege was a result of government interference. "What does this case have to do with President Lee?" he said in response to a related question from a reporter. "President Lee was separately indicted and standing trial before it was suspended." The development corruption case centers on allegations that a small number of unheard-of private asset management companies, including Hwacheon Daeyu, were allowed to reap astronomical investment profits from a real estate development project in Seongnam's Daejang-dong district in 2015, when Lee was the city's mayor. Lee stood trial on charges of inflicting losses to Seongnam Development Corp., which was in charWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times