Prosecutors Review Comprehensive Crime Charges Against Kim Yong... Breakthrough in Statute of Limitations Issue

Seoul Seocho-dong Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution, investigating the allegations of 'violation of the Political Funds Act' against Kim Yong, Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute, is also examining past suspicions of bribery. To avoid the statute of limitations issue, they are considering handling the case as a continuous offense (where multiple acts collectively constitute a single crime).

It is known that they are particularly focusing on proving the long-term collusion between former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu and Deputy Director Kim.

According to the legal community on the 31st, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) is confirming the past connections between the detained Deputy Director Kim and former Director Yoo.

The prosecution believes that the two first connected during the remodeling project in the Bundang area in 2008 and likely formed a collusive relationship centered around the Daejang-dong development project. In particular, after Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was elected mayor of Seongnam in 2010, they reportedly set the success of the Daejang-dong project and Lee’s re-election as mayor as a joint goal and acted as one body during the investigation.

During this process, the prosecution suspects that private businessmen, including lawyer Nam, supported Lee’s side with election funds through former Director Yoo. It is also known that in a recent investigation, former Director Yoo testified that before the 2014 local elections, he received 360 million won from Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, and handed over 100 million won to Deputy Director Kim and 50 million won to Jeong Jin-sang, Chief of Political Coordination in the party leader’s office.

There is also a possibility that Deputy Director Kim, Chief Jeong, and former Director Yoo, who are close aides, were involved in fundraising during Lee’s 2017 run for the Democratic Party’s 19th presidential primary and his subsequent election as governor of Gyeonggi Province the following year.

However, the seven-year statute of limitations for violations of the Political Funds Act poses an obstacle. Crimes committed before 2015 are time-barred and difficult to punish. For this reason, the prosecution is considering classifying the acts of Deputy Director Kim and former Director Yoo as a continuous offense.

If treated as a continuous offense, the statute of limitations applies from the time the last criminal act was committed, removing restrictions on prosecuting past acts. The prosecution considers the 'last offense' to have occurred between April and August of last year.

The prosecution plans to complete the investigation by the 8th of next month, when Deputy Director Kim’s detention period ends, and initially indict only the part involving the receipt of 847 million won.

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