The panel hearing the charge that Yoon Suk-yeol obstructed his arrest has been assigned the case involving alleged favoritism in the Yangpyeong Gongheung District urban development project, which is linked to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Seon-kyo and the family of Kim Keon-hee.
According to legal sources on the 29th, the Seoul Central District Court assigned Kim's case on charges including breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes to Criminal Agreement Division 35 (Presiding Judge Baek Dae-hyeon). Kim's mother, Choi Eun-sun, her older brother, Kim Jin-woo, and current and former Yangpyeong County officials are also set to stand trial.
Criminal Agreement Division 35 is hearing charges that Yoon obstructed the execution of an arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and infringed on Cabinet members' deliberation rights. Kim, while serving as Yangpyeong county chief in March 2017, is accused of receiving a request from Choi and Kim to prevent the imposition of a development charge related to the Yangpyeong Gongheung District urban development project and instructing relevant staff to do so.
According to the special counsel team, the revenue earned by Kim's family from the Gongheung District development profit project is at least 9 billion won. Based on this, the calculated development charge is about 2.25 billion won.
Because of Kim's crime, the project operator ESI&D, owned by Kim's family, gained profits in that amount, while Yangpyeong County suffered corresponding losses, the special counsel team concluded. Choi and Kim are accused of attempting to reduce the development charge through lobbying of Kim and Yangpyeong County officials.
Min Joong-ki's special counsel team also applied a charge that they siphoned off a little over 240 million won in company funds. Choi and Kim were found to have listed a former journalist, identified as A, who handled government relations, as an employee and paid for the execution of the request. A, who is known to have connected Kim's family with the lawmaker, was also indicted on a charge of violating the Attorney‑at‑Law Act.