Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea, was fined an additional 5 million won by the court for failing to attend the private business trial in Daejang-dong for the third time.
The Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Agreement Department 22 (Chief Judge Cho Hyung-woo) made the decision on Lee's absence as a witness at a trial held on the 28th.
CEO Lee was adopted as a witness in the trial of breach of trust by Kim Man-bae, the majority shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, and Yoo Dong-kyu, the former head of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation's planning division, but did not appear in court on the same day.
The witness examination was originally scheduled for this day, but it was not held due to absence, and the trial ended in nine minutes.
Representative Lee did not attend the same trial on the 21st and 24th. At this time, he also issued a statement of reasons for not attending and cited the attendance of a trial that was different from the schedule of the National Assembly.
As a result, the court imposed a fine of 3 million won on the 24th.
Under the current criminal procedure law, a fine of up to 5 million won can be imposed on witnesses who do not attend without justifiable reasons. If you continue to fail to attend despite the imposition of fines, you can be detained or forced to work within seven days.
The court has designated the 31st, the 7th and the 14th of the following month as additional dates for witness examination of representative Lee.
The court said, "This is the third time I have not attended," adding, "I will look at the date on the 31st and discuss subsequent procedures."
Private businesses in Daejang-dong were indicted on charges of causing 489.5 billion won in damages to Seongnam Urban Development Corporation through the structure of the Daejang-dong development project when CEO Lee was serving as Seongnam Mayor.
Representative Lee is also on separate trial with former Democratic Party Political Coordination Office chief Jeong Jin-sang at the Criminal Agreement Department 33 (Chief Judge Lee Jin-kwan) of the Central District Court on charges of approving the project structure.
