"No Memory of Dakgalbi on the Day of the Demonstration"... Kim Kyung-soo in Deeper Trouble

Gyeongnam Governor Kim Kyung-soo, who was sentenced to prison in the first trial for conspiring to manipulate comments on a portal site and was released on bail, is attending the continuation of the appeal trial held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 22nd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] #1. The judge asked, "Did the other members at the Sanchae office wait for Governor Kim Kyung-soo of Gyeongnam and then eat Dakgalbi?" The witness replied, "I don't remember."

#2. The judge asked another witness, "Do you remember any of the dinner menu items from that day?" The witness answered, "No."

On the 22nd, during the continuation of Governor Kim's appeal trial held by the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 2 (Chief Judge Ham Sang-hoon), the 'Dakgalbi dinner' became a key issue. Three related witnesses appeared: Kim Dong-won's younger brother Kim, a member of the 'Economic Co-prosperity Group' (Gyeonggongmo) Jo, and the owner of the Dakgalbi restaurant Han.

Originally, the core issue of this case was whether Governor Kim watched the 'King Crab demonstration' at the Druking office (Sanchae). The first trial judged that Governor Kim visited Sanchae on November 9, 2016, and watched the King Crab demonstration on Druking's phone from 8:07:15 PM to 8:23:53 PM. This judgment led to Governor Kim's detention in court.

Governor Kim's side argued in the appeal trial that "he did not watch the demonstration at that time." They stated that they arrived at Sanchae around 7 PM, had dinner with Druking and other Gyeonggongmo members for about an hour eating Dakgalbi, and then listened to a briefing, not a demonstration, from 8 PM. As evidence, they presented the receipt from the Dakgalbi restaurant.

The witness examination on this day was an opportunity to assess the credibility of Governor Kim's claim. First, there was testimony that Gyeonggongmo purchased Dakgalbi on the day of the demonstration. The Dakgalbi restaurant owner Han said, "It is correct that around 5:50 PM that day, 15 servings of Dakgalbi were packed to go." Up to this point, it aligned with Governor Kim's claim.

However, there was no testimony that Governor Kim had dinner with Gyeonggongmo members eating Dakgalbi. Druking's younger brother Kim said, "I don't remember eating Dakgalbi at all." Gyeonggongmo member Jo also said, "I have no memory of eating Dakgalbi."

The court also considered the possibility that Governor Kim had Dakgalbi dinner with Druking's group without the witnesses present. In response, Jo testified, "That could be, but to my recollection, dinner was scheduled, but because Governor Kim arrived late, he went straight into the lecture room and had a conversation." This testimony contradicted Governor Kim's claim.

Earlier, Governor Kim stated upon attending the trial that the witnesses were "selected to clarify the situation on November 9," and he "expects the situation at that time to be clearly revealed through the witness examination." The court's decision is still pending. The court decided to continue the trial on the 20th of next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.