Police have imposed an overseas travel ban on independent lawmaker Kang Sun-woo and Seoul Metropolitan Council member Kim Kyung, who are under suspicion of giving and receiving nomination bribes ahead of the local elections.
Park Jung-bo, Seoul Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said at a regular press briefing on the 12th that a travel ban was imposed on Kang, Kim, and A, Kang's former secretary-general.
Kang is accused of receiving a 100 million won bribe through A from Kim in return for a nomination ahead of the 2022 local elections.
Kang and Kim acknowledged that 100 million won was given and then returned. However, A, who was identified as brokering the money, was said to have claimed not to know about it.
Kim, who had departed for the United States, returned the previous day. Police questioned Kim for about 3 hours and 30 minutes. Police signaled an additional summons for questioning.
Commissioner Park said, "Interest was so high that we tried to focus the investigation, but the person was having a hard time and it seemed there would be no practical benefit from continuing, so we could not investigate for long," adding, "We plan to summon again as soon as possible."
Concerns about destruction of evidence, such as Kim quitting and rejoining a Telegram account while staying in the United States, have not yet led to an investigation. Commissioner Park said, "Time was so tight that we could not conduct a thorough inquiry," adding, "First we need to analyze the seized materials."
Commissioner Park said regarding the timing of Kang's summons or the possibility of seeking an arrest warrant for Kim and others, "We need to watch the progress of the investigation a bit more."