Prosecutors File Asset Seizure Request for Kim Yong's 600 Million Won in Illegal Presidential Election Funds

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office building [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution has requested the court to freeze approximately 600 million KRW of assets belonging to Kim Yong, Deputy Director of the Minju Research Institute, who has been indicted on charges of 'illegal presidential election fund receipt.'

According to the legal community on the 10th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) filed a request for 'pre-indictment seizure' on Kim's deposits, bonds, and other assets earlier this month.

Pre-indictment seizure is a procedure to freeze suspected proceeds obtained through crimes before the suspect is indicted. If the court accepts the prosecution's request, Kim will not be able to dispose of the assets arbitrarily until a final court ruling is made.

Kim was indicted on the 8th on charges of violating the Political Funds Act by conspiring with former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu and lawyer Jeong Min-yong (former head of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Strategic Business Office) to receive 847 million KRW in four installments from lawyer Nam Wook under the pretext of presidential election funds between April and August last year, around the time of the Democratic Party's presidential primary.

The prosecution believes that among the money handed over by lawyer Nam, 100 million KRW was used by former Director Yoo, and 147 million KRW was not delivered by Yoo to Kim, so Kim actually received a total of 600 million KRW.

Kim is considered one of the closest aides to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. He also served as the general deputy director of Lee's presidential campaign. For this reason, the prosecution suspects that the money he received may have been used as election funds for Lee during the Democratic Party's presidential primary and is investigating the usage of the funds.

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