People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok visited Daejang-dong in Bundang District, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, which has been mentioned daily recently over the prosecution's decision to forgo an appeal. Jang said that giving up the first-instance appeal in the Daejang-dong case has made it difficult to recover criminal revenue, and stressed that a special prosecutor (independent counsel) is needed to uncover the truth.
The People Power Party held an on-site meeting condemning the decision to forgo an appeal in the Daejang-dong development corruption case at Seongnam Development Corporation in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on the afternoon of the 14th. Party leaders and affiliated lawmakers condemned the decision not to appeal and inspected the status of Seongnam's social infrastructure construction.
Jang said, "I came to Daejang-dong, where all suspicions began. The problem lies with President Lee Jae-myung and the Daejang-dong ring, who turned Daejang-dong into a hotbed of development corruption, not the residents of Daejang-dong," adding, "If you look at the first-instance judgment of the Daejang-dong ring, the president's name appears more than 400 times. The real mastermind is the president."
He went on, "The prosecution, which should have punished the largest corruption since Dangun, handed down the worst exoneration in constitutional history. Behind it is the will of the president," adding, "The 740 billion won in criminal revenue that should have gone to Seongnam residents has been turned into the Daejang-dong ring's retirement funds."
There were also calls for a special prosecutor to investigate the Daejang-dong development scandal. Jang said, "This is 'Lee Jae-myung bulletproofing,' with Mayor Lee Jae-myung of Seongnam designing it, President Lee Jae-myung directing it, and the Lee Jae-myung administration exerting external pressure to bury this case deep underground," adding, "In the previous presidential election, the president repeatedly stressed that a special prosecutor would investigate the Daejang-dong development scandal and that, if the mastermind's identity was revealed, he would take responsibility even if he became president."
Ahn Cheol-soo, a People Power Party lawmaker elected from Bundang A, which includes Daejang-dong, said, "The 740 billion won, soaked with the blood and tears of Daejang-dong residents and Seongnam citizens, was snatched away by the Daejang-dong ring," adding, "We must root out the corruption of Lee Jae-myung's ring sown in Daejang-dong. We must mobilize every means—parliamentary investigation, criminal complaints, and a special prosecutor—to uncover who was behind the decision to forgo the Daejang-dong appeal."
Seongnam Mayor Shin Sang-jin also attended the meeting and said, "The prosecution's decision to forgo an appeal, which put 740 billion won into criminals' pockets, is an atrocity that defies the history and rule of law of the Republic of Korea," adding, "We will stake everything and litigate to recover Seongnam's losses by any means."