'Behind Bars' Kim Young-man, Gunwi County Governor's Double Hardship... 1,400 Residents Petition for 'Swift Trial'

Concerns Over Divisive Trial Among Locals... County Governor Kim and Prosecution Both Appeal
Civic Groups Urge Swift Second Trial for April By-Election

'Ordinary People Concerned About Gunwi' Jang Heon, CEO (left in photo), and Ryu Byung-chan, Chairman of the Integrated New Airport Development Committee, are posing before submitting a petition to the Daegu High Court on the 30th, requesting a speedy trial for the appeal.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] In Gunwi-gun, Gyeongbuk, where the local government head was sentenced to 7 years in prison for bribery and detained, a public campaign urging a speedy trial is emerging amid concerns about an 'administrative vacuum.'

Since County Governor Kim Young-man has appealed, and even if the sentence is confirmed quickly, the possibility of a by-election in April next year is slim, there are concerns that the factionalism among local residents, which had arisen over the integrated new airport issue, might reoccur.

The civic group 'People Concerned about Gunwi-gun' and Ryu Byung-chan, chairman of the Integrated New Airport Development Committee, delivered a petition signed by 1,480 Gunwi residents to the Daegu High Court on the 30th.

In the petition, they stated, "Since the county governor was legally detained, Gunwi-gun's administration has collapsed, and only the residents are suffering," and urged, "We ask the court to expedite the appeal trial to conclude the trial as soon as possible and normalize Gunwi-gun's administration through the by-election on April 7 next year."

Governor Kim Young-man was sentenced on the 18th to 7 years in prison and fined 200 million won for allegedly receiving 200 million won in bribes from a construction company through county employees twice in 2016, and was detained in court.

Since then, both the defendant and the prosecution have appealed the sentence. After Governor Kim's detention, Gunwi-gun's administration has been operating under the acting authority of Deputy Governor Kim Ki-deok.

Meanwhile, Governor Kim Young-man was re-elected in the April 2018 election as the sole candidate recommended by the then Liberty Korea Party (now People Power Party), receiving 48.20% (8,781 votes) of valid votes.

At that time, independent candidate Jang Wook received 37.24% (6,785 votes), and independent candidate Hong Jin-gyu received 14.54% (2,650 votes). Gunwi-gun is a 'super-aged society' region where most of the total population (23,299 as of the end of November) have voting rights, and in the last election, 18,642 out of 22,753 voted (voter turnout 82%), showing high interest in local politics.

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