Police currently investigating the "10 million won nomination donation allegation" summoned a former aide to independent lawmaker Kang Sun-woo, a person surnamed Nam, on the 17th and questioned the person for about 10 hours and 40 minutes.
Nam is considered a key figure in the allegation that Seoul Metropolitan Council member Kim Kyung provided 100 million won in nomination donations to Kang Sun-woo's side. Nam, a former aide to Kang and former chief of the district office, appeared at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Major Crime Investigation Unit for Public Crime Investigation in Mapo District, Seoul, at about 9:50 a.m. on the 17th. The person was summoned again 11 days after the first questioning on the 6th.
Police were said to have investigated whether Nam had first proposed the nomination donation to Seoul Metropolitan Council member Kim Kyung and looked into facts that conflict with what Kim and Kang claim.
In a recent police interview, Kim said that "Kang's aide arranged the meeting and first set the amount at 100 million won, asking for money." Kim was also said to have claimed that when the money was handed over, three people—Nam, Kang, and Kim—were together.
Nam allegedly first asked Kim for 100 million won, mentioning Kang's need for money and saying, "Wouldn't it be fine to help," and Nam was also present at the scene where the money changed hands.
This directly contradicts Nam's account. In a police interview on the 6th, Nam was said to have testified that when the three—Kang, Kim, and Nam—met ahead of the 2022 local elections, after Nam briefly stepped away and returned, Kang instructed the person to load items into a car. The point, Nam said, was that the items were loaded on Kang's instruction, but Nam did not know they contained money.
The claims of the key figures in the nomination donation allegation are all at odds. Kang's position is that Nam received 100 million won from Kim and that Kang did not know about it until the office chief reported it.
Police plan to summon Kang for questioning on the 20th. Because the three people's accounts conflict, investigators are also considering a three-way face-to-face interview among Kang, Kim, and Nam.