LEE’S INVOLVEMENT IN DAEJANG-DONG SCANDAL

[Anchor Lead]

The Daejang-dong land development scandal is intensifying because the ruling party's presidential hopeful, Lee Jae-myung, served as Seongnam mayor when the project was carried out. At the heart of the controversy is the missing stipulation on Seongnam City's recovery of excess profits. The question is how deeply Lee Jae-myung was involved in the matter. Lee has rebutted the accusation.

[Pkg]

The arrested former Seongnam Development Corporation executive Yoo Dong-kyu has been charged with breach of duty. He allegedly ignored the calls for retrieving excess profits from the land development project and had subsequently allowed private firms to reap the benefits. Presidential hopeful Lee Jae-myung has provided an explanation regarding the scandal. He says he designed the project in a way that guarantees Seongnam City's profits first, and the recruitment of private development companies was conducted in line with that. This means Yoo cannot be charged with breach of trust.

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-myung(DP presidential Candidate) : "He is being accused of breach of trust for ignoring working-level officials' calls for partially retrieving profits in case land prices go up. That's the legal ground for this accusation. It doesn't make sense."

Lee says he made sure to deprive thieves of their profits, and that if someone has had issues with that, they should charge land developers with money extortion. Lee Nak-yon is stepping up his offensive ahead of the final primary election slated for this weekend. He even dubbed the Seongnam land development scandal "Lee Jae-myung Gate."

[Soundbite] Lee Nak-yon(DP presidential Candidate) : "I hope the public will find the results of the investigation acceptable."

The Democratic Party leadership defended Lee Jae-myung by saying he deserves credit for helping Seongnam City recover 550 billion won in profits.