Minister of Justice Jeong Seong-ho said on the 10th that when prosecutors on the 7th declined to appeal the case involving private operators in the Daejang-dong development corruption scandal, "when the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said there was a need to appeal, I said it would be good to judge prudently."
Jeong said to reporters at the Government Complex Gwacheon that day, "For the key defendant, former Seongnam Development Corporation Deputy Minister Yu Dong-gyu, prosecutors sought seven years in prison, but the first trial court sentenced eight years," adding, "Because a sentence higher than the recommendation was handed down, we judged there would be no problem even without an appeal," explaining his position.
He said, "When I received the report on the first-trial verdict (on the 31st), I could not pay particular attention due to the National Assembly schedule, and when I received the second report saying there was a need to appeal, since (the former Deputy Minister Yu) was sentenced to a term higher than the recommendation, I saw no legal problem with the first trial and said it would be good to judge prudently."
Jeong also said that on the 7th, the appeal deadline, when the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said it should appeal, he told them to "make a comprehensive and sound judgment." Asked whether he conveyed his view to Acting Prosecutor General Noh Man-seok at the time, he said, "Since taking office as Minister, I have not contacted Acting Noh directly," adding, "I said this when the vice minister of justice and bureau and Director-level officials came to the National Assembly to report at the time."
He said, "Finally, on Friday last week (the 7th), on the appeal deadline, when the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said frontline departments intended to appeal, I asked them to make a comprehensive and sound judgment," adding, "That afternoon, (private operator) Nam Wook gave a rather shocking testimony that 'a prosecutor would slit open the belly,' and I judged that if the case continued, it would become an even more political issue."
However, while Minister Jeong gave a detailed explanation of sentencing—the result of calculating the sentence for the parts found guilty—citing the example of former Seongnam Development Corporation planning Deputy Minister Yu Dong-gyu, he did not specifically address the legal issues on which not-guilty verdicts were returned, such as breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes or bribery charges.
He also pushed back against former People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon (former minister of justice) saying prosecutors "committed suicide" by forgoing an appeal in the Daejang-dong case, saying, "I cannot accept that this is something a former minister could do." Asked about any connection to President Lee Jae-myung's trial, he said to the effect that the president's trial and this case are unrelated.