Civic groups are demanding a thorough investigation into allegations that Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kang Sun-woo received 100 million won ($70,000) from a city council candidate during the 2022 local election nomination process.
Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice issued a statement Wednesday calling the situation "a highly shocking circumstance suggesting that a political party's nomination process may have been tainted by money." The group argued this constitutes "a serious crime that shakes the very foundation of the electoral system, which is the bedrock of democracy."
The organization criticized that "despite recognizing signs of money changing hands, appropriate measures such as reporting or excluding the candidate from nomination did not follow," adding that "this is enough to generate public distrust in political parties' candidate vetting systems."
People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy also issued a statement, pointing out that "if Rep. Kim Byung-ki, who served as secretary of the nomination committee at the time, had taken immediate action, the individual in question would have faced investigation rather than becoming a city council member."
The group called for fundamental reforms, stating that "without reforming the opaque top-down nomination process and the local election system that favors the two major parties, preventing recurrence at its root will be difficult." It urged that "political parties must establish a transparent nomination system and the National Assembly must immediately pursue voting system reform."
