Investigation on Nam Wook speeds up

Oct 20, 2021, 08:18 am

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Nam Wook, a key figure in a land development scandal, is transported to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office upon his arrival at the Incheon International Airport on Oct. 18, 2021./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Kim Hyun-goo

The grave Daejang-dong land development scandal, which is being criticized for its poor investigation, is seemingly being transformed into a politically biased planned investigation with the arrival of lawyer Nam Wook.

Many within and outside the legal circles are raising the possibility of a planned investigation by cutting ties for the situation in which the investigation is speeding up with a rush.

This indicate that prosecutors may wrap up the probe by investigating key figures that have surfaced so far, including lawyer Nam Wook, Yoo Dong-kyu, the former acting president of Seongnam Development Corporation, and Kim Man-bae, a major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, while not seeking the upper-level investigation.

First of all, there are many doubts about the sudden voluntary entry of Nam, who ‘fled’ to the United States mid-September before the investigation into the case began. Although his scope of movement was limited due to the invalidity of the passport, some claim that Nam is trying to get away with what he had done by cooperating with the prosecutors as much as possible, just like accountant Jeong Young-hak, who had submitted recordings to the prosecutors.

In fact, Nam showed a cooperative attitude by submitting both mobile phones he used to the prosecutors, unlike Yoo, who tried to dispose his mobile phone. Amid growing public interest and anger, some suspect that Nam’s voluntary appearance at the prosecutors’ office could have been arranged in advance by Nam and the prosecution.

Besides, Nam has recently been actively denying Gov. Lee’s alleged involvement in the scandal unlike before, raising suspicions further. According to a recording from 2014, Nam had said that if Lee Jae-myung is re-elected, Yoo Dong-gyu would be appointed as president and speed up the project. However, Nam explained that his remarks were exaggerated in the process of persuading residents, and changed his words to say that he suffered damage because of Gov. Lee and he did not know the governor.

The investigative team summoned Nam again Tuesday afternoon for questioning. Nam reportedly testified that only two members of the so-called “Five Billion Won Club” are known to have actually received money. The “Five Billion Won Club” refers to six people who were allegedly offered bribes by Hwacheon Daeyu, including former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il, independent Rep. Kwak Sang-do, and former Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam.

The investigative team suspects that one of the two people mentioned by Nam is Rep. Kwak. They suspect that Kwak offered business favors to Hwacheon Daeyu in the past while serving as Cheong Wa Dae’s senior secretary for civil affairs and a member of the National Assembly’s culture committee, and that the private asset management firm paid a large bribe to Kwak’s son in return.

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