Democratic Party leader Lee indicted on embezzlement

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea’s Democratic Party, has been indicted on charges of allegedly misusing public funds during his tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province. This marks his sixth indictment and adds to the growing list of legal battles he faces, including four ongoing trials.

On Tuesday, the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office announced Lee’s indictment on charges of occupational embezzlement amounting to 165.3 million won. The allegations include personal use of the official vehicle for the governor, Genesis G80, for his wife, Kim Hye-kyung, for the entire tenure from 2018 to 2021, which is estimated to have provided Lee with benefits worth at least 60.16 million won. The indictment also cites unauthorized expenses on items such as 8.89 million won worth of food, 27.91 million won worth of fruit, and 6.85 million won worth of sandwiches, reportedly purchased with official funds and falsely documented as official expenditures.

The prosecutors stated that efforts to coordinate Lee’s appearance for questioning had failed, citing party conventions and other obligations as reasons for his non-compliance. After Lee ignored two to three summons and declined to respond to written inquiries, the prosecution decided to proceed with the indictment without further investigation. Prosecutors opted not to indict Kim Hye-kyung, taking into account her prior sentence of a 1.5 million won fine for violating the Public Officials Election Act and the rarity of indicting a married couple for property-related crimes.


Dong-Jun Heo hungry@donga.com