Prosecution Likely to Indict Kim Yong Today for '800 Million Bribe'... Continuing Review of Comprehensive Crime Charges

Amid the prosecution's arrest and investigation of Kim Yong, deputy director of the Democratic Research Institute and a close aide to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, the Taegeukgi and prosecution flags were seen hanging at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 1st.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 7th, the prosecution will indict Kim Yong, Deputy Director of the Minjoo Research Institute, who was detained on charges of 'illegal presidential election fund receipt.' The likely time is late afternoon.

According to the legal community, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) plans to indict Deputy Director Kim on charges of violating the Political Funds Act as his detention period expires that day. As of the morning, the investigation team is focused on finalizing the charges to be included in the indictment. To this end, Deputy Director Kim was summoned for a final interrogation the previous afternoon.

The prosecution is conducting a comprehensive investigation into Deputy Director Kim's receipt of money from parties involved in the Daejang-dong urban development project from 2014 to 2021. However, it is known that the indictment will only cover the 847 million KRW received between April and August of last year. It was investigated that Deputy Director Kim conspired with former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu and others during the presidential election period to receive this money in four installments from lawyer Nam Wook. The prosecution identified the timing and locations of the money transfers based on testimonies from former Director Yoo, lawyer Jeong Min-yong, and others. Furthermore, since the money was used for the presidential campaign of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, ahead of the primary election, the charge of 'violation of the Political Funds Act' is expected to be applied.

After the indictment, the prosecution plans to continue tracking the details of the funds received by Deputy Director Kim. In particular, they will focus on investigating the 10 million KRW that former Director Yoo gave to Deputy Director Kim ahead of the 2014 Seongnam mayoral election. They are also expected to verify the truth of former Director Yoo's claims that during the promotion of the Wirye New Town project and the Daejang-dong development project, Deputy Director Kim and Jeong Jin-sang, Political Coordination Officer of the Democratic Party leader's office, were entertained with alcohol and received 'tteok-gaps' (bribery money) or expensive gifts during holidays.

If specific facts are confirmed, the prosecution is considering handling Deputy Director Kim's receipt of funds from 2014 to 2021 as a 'continuous offense.' Since the statute of limitations for violating the Political Funds Act is seven years, the money transferred in 2014 cannot be prosecuted due to expiration. However, if grouped as a continuous offense, the statute of limitations is calculated from the last offense, allowing prosecution without issue. It is also reported that the prosecution is considering applying bribery charges depending on the investigation results.

There is also attention on the possibility that investigations into Officer Jeong will intensify. The prosecution has secured testimonies that Officer Jeong received 50 million KRW in 2014 and tens of millions of KRW in 2020 from former Director Yoo. Since Officer Jeong denies these claims, if summons investigations prove difficult, the prosecution may execute an arrest warrant to secure his custody, similar to Deputy Director Kim.

The indictment that the prosecution will present when indicting Deputy Director Kim could serve as a barometer. It may also specify Officer Jeong's involvement. Additionally, attention is focused on how the prosecution will specify the custody of the 'Daejang-dong group' who raised and delivered the money. It is known that the prosecution views lawyer Jeong and former Director Yoo as accomplices conspiring with Deputy Director Kim, and lawyer Nam as a provider. There is also interest in whether Lee Jae-myung's name will appear in the indictment alongside them.

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