Opposition leader fined for defying court summons
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung steps out of the vehicle to attend a Supreme Council meeting in Seoul, March 24. Joint Press Corps
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was fined 3 million won ($2,043) on Monday for defying a court order to testify in a trial connected to a development scandal arising from his term as mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, years ago.
The Seoul Central District Court issued the fine to the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea after he failed to show up at the trial for the second time.
The case centers on allegations that a group of private developers reaped massive profits from an apartment development project in Seongnam's Daejang-dong district in 2015, when Lee was the city's mayor, causing losses of 489.5 billion won to the municipal government.
By law, a witness who continues to defy a summons without legitimate grounds after being fined can be detained for up to seven days.
Lee is also standing a separate trial on charges of approving the development project after it was designed to be favorable to the private developers. (Yonhap)