Gyeonggi governor grilled by prosecution over multiple allegations

By Kim Rahn

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung speaks to reporters at the Seongnam branch of the Suwon Prosecutors' Office, Gyeonggi Province, Saturday, after being questioned over multiple allegations involving his family and violations of the Election Law. / Yonhap

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung was questioned by the prosecution, Saturday, over multiple allegations involving his family members and violations of the Election Law.

The summons came after the police referred the case to the prosecution earlier this month, suggesting it indict the governor on at least three charges.

After the 13-hour interrogation, Lee told reporters, “I hope prosecutors are not conducting the investigation by already fixing the answers they wanted to get.”

One of the accusations is alleged abuse of power when he was Seongnam mayor in 2012 to forcibly institutionalize his older brother, now deceased, at a mental hospital.

According to the relevant law, mental health professionals can request municipal heads to commit a person with a mental health problem, who is likely to harm oneself or others, to proper facilities.

Police said earlier that Lee transferred a Seongnam City official, who had disagreed with institutionalizing Lee's brother, to another department in the city government.

Lee has insisted it was not him but his sister-in-law who forcibly put his brother in the hospital. “As a mayor, I just told my officials to review the process of institutionalization because a mental patient (meaning his brother) could harm citizens,” he said before the prosecution's questioning.

“There are many cases where mentally ill people have killed others. If a mentally ill person is not hospitalized only because he is a mayor's brother, who will deal with the damage?”

Lee was also accused of violating the Election Law, as he allegedly denied a fact, during the June local elections, that he had been fined 1.5 million won back in 2002 for falsely representing himself as a prosecutor.

The prosecution also questioned him over allegedly announcing false information about a development project in Seongnam.

It also interrogated him over other allegations including extramarital affairs with actress Kim Boo-sun and ties with a crime ring.

Based on results of the questioning, prosecutors will decided whether to indict him and what charges to apply if they do. They may make the decision before Dec. 13, when the six-month statute of limitations for the Election Law violation will expire.

Saturday's summons was a separate one from another allegations involving Lee's wife, Kim Hye-gyeong, that she was the owner of a controversial Twitter account which was used in illegal campaigning for Lee. The police also referred the case to the prosecution.