"Not a lawmaker's car but a regular car..." Kim Hong-gul discusses plan to appear at prosecution during National Assembly audit session

Independent lawmaker Kim Hong-gul is seen consulting with someone via messenger about his appearance at the prosecution during the Ministry of Unification and other government audits held by the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on the 8th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Kim Hong-gul, an independent lawmaker expelled from the Democratic Party of Korea over allegations of underreporting assets, was caught on the 8th discussing plans to appear before the prosecution with his office staff via mobile phone during a parliamentary audit.

On that day, Kim, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, attended a government audit related to the Ministry of Unification and other relevant agencies. During the session, Kim exchanged mobile messages with his office staff and lawyers to discuss strategies regarding his prosecution appearance.

According to photos released to the media, when an office staff member suggested, "It would be better to change the time," Kim responded, "How?" The staff then said, "Since there was a news report that you would go by 10 a.m. on Saturday, let's avoid that time (and change the appearance time)."

Independent lawmaker Kim Hong-gul is consulting with his lawyer via text message about the vehicle he will use when attending the prosecution during the Ministry of Unification and other government audits held by the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on the 8th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim also discussed changing the vehicle to be used for the prosecution appearance to avoid encounters with reporters.

He received a message from his lawyer stating, "It would be better to use a regular car rather than the lawmaker's own car. Reporters will expect the investigation to take place on the last holiday and will likely monitor the luxury car."

Independent lawmaker Kim Hong-gul is seen consulting with someone via messenger about the vehicle to be used when attending the prosecution during the Ministry of Unification and other government audits held by the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on the 8th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Afterwards, Kim shared the message with his office staff and asked whether to change the vehicle, to which the staff replied, "Let's do that."

Meanwhile, allegations arose that Kim underreported his assets by omitting an apartment pre-sale right worth over 1 billion won during the candidate asset declaration before the 21st general election.

Additionally, it was revealed that he purchased three houses consecutively in 2016, raising suspicions of real estate speculation. In response to the controversy, the Democratic Party held an emergency Supreme Council meeting on the 18th of last month and decided to expel Kim from the party.

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