Prosecutors Seek Arrest Warrant for Kim Yong in 'Lee Jae-myung Illegal Election Fund Suspicion' Case

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution has moved to secure the custody of Kim Yong, Deputy Director of the Minju Research Institute, who was arrested on charges of receiving illegal political funds amounting to several hundred million won.

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) filed an arrest warrant for Kim on the 21st on charges of violating the Political Funds Act.

According to the prosecution, Kim is suspected of conspiring with Yoo Dong-gyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, and lawyer Jeong Min-yong (former head of Strategic Business at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation) to receive illegal political funds totaling 847 million won in four installments from lawyer Nam Wook, a private developer involved in the Daejang-dong development project, between April and August last year. It is known that Kim received 600 million won of this amount.

The prosecution believes the money was exchanged while the Democratic Party was preparing for the presidential primary. During the primary, Kim served as the Deputy General Director in charge of fundraising and organizational management for the presidential campaign of Representative Lee Jae-myung. The prosecution believes that in February last year, Kim requested about 2 billion won from former Director Yoo for presidential campaign funds.

In response, former Director Yoo passed this request to lawyer Nam, who prepared approximately 800 million won in cash over several occasions and delivered it to Kim through lawyer Jeong Min-yong and former Director Yoo.

On the 19th, the prosecution arrested Kim on these charges and conducted a search and seizure of his residence. They also attempted to search the Minju Research Institute in Yeouido, Seoul, where Kim's office is located, but were blocked due to opposition from the Democratic Party.

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