Yang Jun-wook, former speaker of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, has been referred to prosecutors over allegations that he received money from former Seoul councilor Kim Kyung in exchange for a district mayor nomination.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Public Crimes Investigation Unit said Thursday that it sent Yang, who faces charges of violating the Political Funds Act, to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office late last month.
Yang is accused of accepting money from Kim along with a request to secure a nomination ahead of the Gangseo District mayoral by-election held in October 2023.
Kim previously admitted during police questioning that he gave Yang several million won. Yang, however, denied the allegations when he appeared before police in February this year, stating, "I did not receive a single penny."
After Yang's status was changed to that of a suspect, the Democratic Party's Strategic Nomination Committee excluded him, or "cut him off," from the Gangdong District mayoral nomination process on the 30th of last month.
