Former Namwon Mayor Lee Hwan-ju is not indicted for 'suspicious receipt of golden keys'.

The Namwon branch of the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office did not indict Lee Hwan-joo, a former mayor of Namwon, North Jeolla Province, on charges of receiving golden keys and bouquets of flowers from a forest cooperative in North Jeolla Province at the time of his retirement ceremony in June 2022.

Prosecutors explained that they judged that there was a lack of evidence to prove the allegations because the golden key was not delivered directly to the former mayor Lee and the delivery process was not clear.

Former forest union president A, who is known to have handed over the golden key, and union employees were put on trial on charges of creating slush funds worth 160 million won by inflating the price of trees with false estimates during the forest development project that signed a private contract with Namwon City.