Lee Jae-myung, presidential nominee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, speaks during a campaign event Wednesday. (Joint Press Corps)
The first whistleblower on ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung’s alleged payment of legal fees by proxy in 2018 was found dead Wednesday, after he had gone missing for days.
The latest is the third death reported among those related to allegations surrounding Lee, which has again raised calls for exhaustive investigations into Lee’s suspected charges from the opposition bloc.
Police said Wednesday that the lawyer named Lee Byung-chul was found dead at a motel in Yancheon-gu, western Seoul, at around 8:40 a.m. Wednesday after his sister reported him missing to the police three days earlier.
The cause of his death was unknown as of press time, and an autopsy was underway at a nearby hospital. Media reports said there were no signs of violence or evidence of other crimes at the scene.
The lawyer is known as the first person to have provided a civic group with a recording file that contained information that another lawyer appointed as a defense attorney for Lee Jae-myung’s possible violation of the Public Official Election Act was provided 300 million won ($252,000) in cash and 2 billion won in stocks that could be sold three years later.
Lee Jae-myung stood trial until mid last year on charges of spreading false information during a TV debate in the runup to the 2018 gubernatorial election.
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