SEOUL – South Korea’s main opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was indicted on Wednesday on bribery charges related to an alleged scheme to transfer funds to North Korea through an underwear maker, with the aim of facilitating a visit to Pyongyang during his tenure as a provincial governor, according to news reports.
Lee, the leader of the Democratic Party, is accused of being involved in a conspiracy involving the Ssangbangwool Group, which initially specialized in underwear manufacturing before diversifying into other businesses. The scheme purportedly involved transferring $8 million to North Korea to promote a commercial project and arrange a visit by Lee to Pyongyang, enhancing his political profile.
Lee’s deputy during his time as governor of Gyeonggi province has already been convicted of bribery and illegal fund transfers in connection with this conspiracy. Despite the indictment, calls to the public affairs office at the Suwon District Prosecutors Office went unanswered.
Lee has consistently denied any involvement or knowledge of the scheme, which allegedly took place between 2019 and 2020. “I am not that foolish,” Lee stated last year, dismissing the charges as “fiction” when a court denied a warrant for his arrest. Following his indictment, he commented, “The prosecutors’ creativity is getting worse.”
Lee, who was the Democratic Party’s candidate in the 2022 presidential election, narrowly lost to Yoon Suk Yeol, a career prosecutor. He remains a significant contender for the 2027 presidential election. Lee is also facing a separate trial on corruption charges from his term as mayor of a city near Seoul.
This incident echoes the controversy surrounding the first summit between North and South Korea in 2000. That summit, credited with initiating a period of engagement, was later marred by convictions of government officials for transferring funds to Pyongyang through the Hyundai Group, which subsequently secured nearly exclusive rights to major business ventures in the North.