Kim Kyung, a former Seoul city councilor detained on suspicion of delivering 100 million won in nomination bribes to lawmaker Kang Sun-woo ahead of the 2022 local elections, was summoned by prosecutors on the 13th. This marks the first interrogation since his case was transferred to prosecutors on the 11th.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Public Investigation Division 2 (led by Senior Prosecutor Kim Hyung-won) has been questioning Kim as a suspect since the morning.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Public Crime Investigation Unit previously detained and transferred both independent lawmaker Kang Sun-woo and former councilor Kim on charges of violating the Political Funds Act and the Anti-Graft Act, as well as giving and receiving bribes related to breach of trust.
Kang and Kim allegedly met at a hotel in Yongsan-gu in January 2022, before the local elections, and exchanged a shopping bag containing 100 million won as "payment for nomination." Kang was a member of the Democratic Party of Korea at the time.
Kim was subsequently nominated as the sole Democratic Party candidate for Seoul city council in Gangseo-gu, Kang's constituency, and won the election. The court issued arrest warrants for both on the 3rd, citing concerns about evidence destruction. They are currently held at Seoul Detention Center.
The case surfaced on December 29 last year when a recording between Kang and Rep. Kim Byung-ki, who served as secretary of the Democratic Party's nomination management committee, was made public. The recording contained discussions between the two about how to handle the nomination money. Kang has since denied the payment was in exchange for favors, claiming she "did not know the shopping bag contained money and returned it immediately upon discovering the contents."
However, during the investigation, police reportedly found evidence that Kang used the funds for personal purposes, including rental deposits for her residence. After the recording was released, former councilor Kim abruptly left the country and stayed in the United States for 11 days, sparking controversy over flight risk and evidence tampering after he withdrew from and rejoined Telegram. Upon returning to Korea, he admitted to the crime, stating he "delivered the money for the purpose of securing a nomination."
Prosecutors plan to focus their questioning of Kim on the circumstances surrounding the payment and specific details of the nomination request. Kang is scheduled to be summoned for questioning on the 16th.
