Rep. Kang Sun-woo, who is suspected of taking a 100 million won nomination bribe, finished the first police questioning after 21 hours.
Kang left the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Public Crime Investigation Unit at about 5:50 a.m. on the 21st. She appeared at about 8:55 a.m. the previous day and underwent overnight questioning.
After finishing the questioning, Kang told reporters, "I did my best to answer faithfully and truthfully," adding, "I am sorry for causing concern to the public over this matter." She added, "I will continue to respond to the remaining investigation as I have so far, doing my best to answer faithfully and truthfully."
Kang, however, left without answering questions such as "Did you use the 100 million won for a jeonse deposit?" and "Are you willing to submit to a face-to-face confrontation questioning?"
Kang is suspected of receiving 100 million won from Seoul City Council member Kim Kyung before the 2022 local elections and then returning it. At the time, Kang was a nomination screening committee member for the Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul chapter, and Kim was a candidate. The suspicion surfaced after an audio recording of Kang's conversation with Rep. Kim Byung-kee, who was the Democratic Party of Korea Seoul chapter nomination screening committee secretary, was released.
Police are believed to have closely pressed Kang on parts where the statements did not match. Kim reportedly told police recently that in April 2022, at a cafe in Seoul, Kim handed 100 million won in cash to Kang. Kim was also said to have claimed the money was returned around the fall of the same year.
Kang had explained that she learned belatedly that a former secretary-general, a person surnamed Nam, had received the money and ordered it returned, which differs from Kim's account.
Based on the day's questioning, police are expected to decide whether to seek custody measures for Kang, Kim, Nam and others. Additional summons are also possible.