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03.29 (금)

Recordings of Phone Conversations Prove Goyang Mayor Lee Made a Deal with Former Mayor ahead of Party Primaries [Exclusive]

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A copy of the letter of undertaking that was released along with the argument that this was signed by Lee Jae-jun, the incumbent mayor of Goyang--who ran in the Democratic Party of Korea primary for the mayoral candidate of Goyang in the 2018 local elections--and the camp of former Goyang Mayor Choi Sung, who was cut off from the primary. The letter promises to share the authority over personnel decisions and projects with Choi in exchange for his support in the primary.


At the time of the local elections in 2018, Lee Jae-jun, the incumbent mayor of Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do allegedly signed a letter of undertaking with former Goyang Mayor Choi Sung concerning rights over personnel decisions and projects on condition that Choi supports Lee ahead of the primary to determine the Democratic Party of Korea candidate. Prosecutors, while investigating this allegation, recently obtained critical evidence that could prove the allegation.

According to the results of the investigative reporting by the Kyunghyang Shinmun on June 3, the Goyang Office of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors’ Office, currently investigating this case, recently seized 7-8 cell phones of figures that were mentioned in the letter of undertaking in question. Several phone conversation recordings that support the existence of this letter were stored in these cell phones.

The recordings found were phone conversations between the parties concerned, including the people who drew up the letter of undertaking, Mayor Lee and former Mayor Choi’s representative, former aide A.

The recordings were divided into 70-80 files, and reportedly, they included conversations on who actively designed the letter of undertaking, referred to as “the paper,” and who delivered the revised letters between the two parties.

They also included a phone conversation between Lee and Choi’s aides mentioned in the letter of undertaking on the authority over personnel decisions. Money was also mentioned. However, it has yet to be confirmed as to who paid whom how much for what purpose.

After the relationship fell apart in the process of implementing the promises, some people in connection with Choi expressed their complaints about Lee’s failure to undertake some promises, saying, “I will turn myself in (for the letter of undertaking),” and “I will report this to the authorities,” which were also in the recordings retrieved.

Despite numerous requests for an answer, Mayor Lee has yet to release an explanation, and it has been confirmed that he has recently appointed a lawyer. Choi’s aide A, who, along with Lee, holds the key to the truth surrounding the letter of undertaking, has an Australian citizenship and is currently residing in Australia.

Last January, the Liberty Korea Party claimed that former Mayor Choi, who was cut off from the party’s primary, and the incumbent Mayor Lee signed a letter of undertaking dividing the authority over personnel decisions and projects in exchange for support in the primary for mayoral candidate of Goyang in April 2018. The opposition party submitted a report to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in the name of the party calling for an investigation into the illegal promise in exchange for favors. The case was sent to the Goyang Office and related figures have recently been summoned for questioning.

Former Mayor Choi claimed that the letter of undertaking was a “fabricated document,” and reported Hwang Kyo-ahn, the leader of the Liberty Korea Party at the time, as an accomplice in forging a private document and distributing false facts. He also accused him of libel. Mayor Lee has not taken any legal response to the report by the Liberty Korea Party.

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