'Lee Illegal Election Fund Suspicion' Kim Yong Under Detention Hearing... Decision Possible Today

On the 19th, officials from the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who arrested Kim Yong, Deputy Director of the Minjoo Research Institute, on suspicion of receiving illegal funds, attempted to enter the Minjoo Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, to conduct a search of the Minjoo Research Institute, but were confronted by on-duty staff.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Kim Yong, Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute and the "right-hand man" of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was arrested on charges of receiving illegal political funds worth hundreds of millions of won, appeared at the court for a pre-trial detention hearing (warrant review).

Kim's hearing began at 3:30 p.m. on the 21st, presided over by Judge Kim Seyong, who is in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court.

Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baeksin) requested Kim's arrest warrant from the court on charges of violating the Political Funds Act. According to the prosecution, Kim is accused of conspiring with former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu and lawyer Jeong Min-yong (former head of the Strategic Business Office at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation) to illegally receive 847 million won in political funds in four installments from Nam Wook, a private developer involved in the Daejang-dong development, between April and August last year. Among this, it is known that Kim received 600 million won.

The prosecution believes the money was exchanged while the Democratic Party of Korea was preparing for the presidential primary. During the primary, Kim served as the general deputy director in Lee Jae-myung's campaign, responsible for fundraising and organizational management. The prosecution reports that in February last year, Kim requested about 2 billion won from former Director Yoo for presidential campaign funds. Yoo then passed this request to lawyer Nam, who prepared about 800 million won in cash through several transactions, which was delivered to Kim via lawyer Jeong and former Director Yoo.

While continuing to investigate allegations of preferential treatment and lobbying in the Daejang-dong urban development project, the prosecution expanded the scope to include corruption allegations in the Wirye New Town development. They obtained a decisive statement from former Director Yoo admitting to exchanging money, leading to charges of violating the Political Funds Act.

This is the first attempt to secure Kim's custody regarding the Political Funds Act violation case. Kim is reported to have denied all charges, stating that he neither requested nor received any money from former Director Yoo.

The decision on Kim's detention is expected to be made tonight or early on the 22nd.

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