(LEAD) Opposition leader Lee to appear for prosecution questioning on Aug. 17

▲ Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung speaks during a party meeting on Aug. 9, 2023. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) prosecution-opposition leader

(LEAD) Opposition leader Lee to appear for prosecution questioning on Aug. 17

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SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said Thursday that he will appear before prosecutors for questioning next week regarding suspicions surrounding a land development project in Seongnam, located just south of Seoul, during his previous term as the city's mayor.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office has summoned Lee, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, as part of its investigation into allegations that he had provided administrative favors to a private developer for a property project in Seongnam's Baekhyeon-dong district during his term as the mayor in the mid-2010s.

"It is a clear intention to evade the administration's crisis," Lee said in a statement given by the party's spokesperson, Rep. Kang Sun-woo, on behalf of him. "Nevertheless, I will confidently accept the summons for investigation."

Lee is scheduled to show up for questioning as a suspect on Aug. 17, Kang said.

Later, in a Facebook message, Lee once again criticized the ongoing prosecution investigation, stating, "The worst type of cartel is the prosecution cartel." President Yoon Suk Yeol has previously brought up the issue of cartels multiple times.

It would mark Lee's fourth appearance before the prosecution for questioning, following three rounds of summons over bribery charges surrounding corporate donations to the municipal football club Seongnam FC and corruption charges arising from another development project during his term as mayor.

The so-called Baekhyeon-dong scandal centers on allegations that the municipal government of Seongnam gave special treatment to the private developer, named Seongnam R&D PFV.

The company developed the former site of the Korea Food Research Institute in the district into apartment complexes between 2015 and 2016, and allegedly earned windfall profits worth 318.5 billion won (US$289.7 million) after the city eased regulations requiring developers to set aside a portion of apartment units for less profitable rental homes.

Asia Developer, the largest shareholder in Seongnam R&D PFV, has reportedly earned a dividend income of about 70 billion won.

During the Baekhyeon-dong project, the city government changed its zoning regulations, and prosecutors suspect Lee was the final decision-maker who facilitated the change in the city's various approval processes to the advantage of the private developer.

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