YOO CONFIRMED TO HAVE TALKED WITH JEONG

[Anchor Lead]

It has been confirmed that former Seongnam Development Corporation executive Yoo Dong-kyu talked on the phone with Jeong Jin-sang, supposedly one of the closest associates of Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, on the day of search and seizure. While suspicions mount about the nature of the phone call, Jeong explained that he needed to check on Yoo and that he had told him to fully cooperate with the investigators.

[Pkg]

​The prosecution searched former Seongnam Development Corporation executive Yoo Dong-kyu’s residence on September 29th. It was found that immediately before the search, Yoo had talked on the phone with Democratic Party election committee official Jeong Jin-sang. The timing of the call overlaps with when Yoo tried to get rid of his mobile phone by throwing it out the window. When media outlets began reporting about this very call, Jeong admitted that he had called Yoo to check on him because his behavior were out of character and noticeably different. Jeong also claimed that he asked Yoo not to hide anything and to cooperate fully with the investigation. This phone call is controversial because Jeong is known as one of the closest associates of the DP presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung and the call took place right before the search and seizure. Candidate Lee admitted at the parliamentary inspection of Gyeonggi-do provincial affairs that he had known about Yoo’s situation before his home was searched.

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-myung(DP Presidential Candidate(Oct. 20, Parliamentary inspection)) : "I heard later that he had personal issues stemming from his divorce last year, so he took pills to take his own life during the search and seizure."

This was a piece of information not disclosed to even the key media outlets.

[Soundbite] Kim Hyung-dong(PPP Rep.), Lee Jae-myung(DP Pres. Candidate(Oct. 20, Parliamentary inspection)) : "(Were you briefed on Yoo’s arrest at the time?) I don’t know."

[Soundbite] Kim Hyung-dong(PPP Rep.), Lee Jae-myung(DP Pres. Candidate(Oct. 20, Parliamentary inspection)) : "(You don’t know? Were you or were you not briefed?) I just got what was reported in the media."

When a controversy erupted, Lee’s associates claimed that he had heard about the call later. They also explained that Lee had heard about Yoo’s attempted suicide from his aide, who relayed what he had heard from a journalist. Lee did not comment further in public about this matter. The Democratic Party argued that it’s unreasonable to take issue with a simple phone call, but the party is apparently watching for the fallout since the call took place at a sensitive time, right before the search and seizure. The People Power Party is arguing that Lee might have committed perjury at the parliamentary inspection and Justice Party presidential candidate Sim Sang-jung is demanding that a special prosecutor be named to look into the matter.