Kukim's 3 Members Accused of 'Splitting Donations' Claim "No Illegal Possession"

The People Power Party's Nomination Management Committee has determined that there is no illegality regarding the three individuals suspected of receiving split donations.

People Power Party's Jeong Young-hwan, Chair of the Nomination Management Committee (right), and Jang Dong-hyuk, Secretary General, are announcing the meeting results at the Yeouido party headquarters on the 26th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the afternoon of the 28th, Jang Dong-hyuk, Secretary General of the People Power Party, stated at a briefing held at the Yeouido party headquarters, "We received written explanations from the three individuals concerning the split donations reported by some media outlets," adding, "After thorough inspection, we judged that there is no illegality and have closed the case for internal review." He further added, "We may reconsider depending on the results of future investigations or judicial rulings."

Current members of the People Power Party are under investigation for allegations of illegal political funding. Assemblyman Tae Young-ho is being investigated by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) on suspicion of receiving split donations from a basic council member elected in Gangnam-gap, Seoul. Assemblywoman Jeon Ju-hye is suspected of receiving donations through a method where the head of the Seoul Gangdong Nonghyup and others deducted 100,000 won from employees' salaries without their separate consent. However, Assemblywoman Jeon has denied the allegations, calling them "false information."

Additionally, it was decided to issue a warning regarding some candidates who allegedly encouraged double voting during the primary opinion poll process. Secretary General Jang said, "The Clean Nomination Support Team investigated whether there was a violation of Article 108 of the Public Official Election Act and found no legal violation," but added, "Since it could undermine a fair primary, we decided to issue a warning to the relevant candidates."

The People Power Party's Nomination Committee received reports of false statements and illegal election campaigning by individual candidates but dismissed the objections, judging them to fall within the scope of normal election activities. Secretary General Jang stated, "We plan to thoroughly investigate any acts that undermine fair primaries going forward."

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