Two Politicians Arrested Over $70,000 Nomination Bribery Scandal

Independent lawmaker Kang Sun-woo and former Seoul city councilor Kim Kyung have both been arrested on charges of exchanging 100 million won (approximately $70,000) in return for a party nomination. The arrests come roughly two months after the allegations first surfaced. With both suspects now in custody, police are expected to accelerate their investigation into additional allegations including split donations and donations made under borrowed names.

Judge Lee Jong-rok of the Seoul Central District Court issued arrest warrants for Kang and Kim on January 3 after conducting a warrant review hearing that began at 2:30 p.m. The two face charges of violating the Political Funds Act and breach of trust under the Criminal Act. "There is concern about destruction of evidence," Judge Lee stated as the reason for issuing the warrants. Kang becomes the second sitting lawmaker of the 22nd National Assembly to be arrested, following People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong's arrest in September last year.

Kang and Kim are accused of exchanging 100 million won at a hotel in Seoul's Yongsan district in January 2022, ahead of local elections, in connection with Kim's nomination as a city council candidate. The allegations came to light late last year when a recording was released of Kang discussing how to handle the nomination payment with independent lawmaker Kim Byung-ki, who served as secretary of the Democratic Party of Korea's nomination management committee at the time.

Police cited signs of organized evidence destruction as grounds for arrest, noting that Kang refused to provide the password to her seized mobile phone. For Kim, police emphasized the need for detention given that he departed for the United States on the first day of the investigation and showed signs of having deleted Telegram chat records. Although Kim submitted a self-surrender statement to police and appeared to acknowledge the charges, he was not able to avoid arrest. Kang argued that she did not know the shopping bag she received contained money and that she returned all of it, but the court rejected this defense.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Public Crime Investigation Unit had previously summoned Kang twice and Kim four times before filing for arrest warrants on December 5. The National Assembly passed a motion consenting to Kang's arrest on December 24, with 164 votes in favor out of 263 members present.

With both suspects in custody, police are expected to move quickly to investigate additional allegations that emerged during the probe. Investigators are examining claims that Kim made donations to Democratic Party politicians under relatives' names and made so-called "split donations" totaling 130 million won to Kang. Both suspects will be held at the Mapo Police Station detention facility in Seoul and undergo further questioning before being transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.