Police on the 5th sought arrest warrants for National Assembly member Kang Sun-woo and former Seoul city council member Kim Kyung on charges of giving and receiving 100 million won ahead of the 2022 local elections.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Public Crime Investigation Unit applied for arrest warrants for Rep. Kang and former city council member Kim to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office at 9 a.m. that day. They applied charges of violating the Political Funds Act, breach of trust in receiving benefits, and violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act to Rep. Kang, and violating the Political Funds Act, breach of trust in giving benefits, and violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act to former city council member Kim.
Bribery charges were left out. A police official said, "After reviewing case law, we determined that party nominations are voluntary internal decision-making within an organization and fall under party affairs, not official duties, which are an element of the bribery offense, so for clarity in applying the law at the arrest-warrant stage, we applied breach of trust in receiving and giving benefits."
The official added, "We plan to continue reviewing whether bribery charges can be applied through further investigation and legal review until the final referral."
For amounts of 100 million won or more, the sentencing guideline for breach of trust in receiving benefits is two to four years in prison, and for breach of trust in giving benefits it is 10 months to one year and six months. The penalties are lower than for bribery receipt (seven to 10 years in prison) or bribery offering (two years and six months to three years and six months).
Rep. Kang is suspected of receiving 100 million won from former city council member Kim in return for nominating a Democratic Party of Korea city council candidate ahead of the June 2022 local elections.
Rep. Kang later returned the 100 million won to former city council member Kim, and allegations also surfaced that from 2022 to 2023, Kang received 130 million won from about 10 people in two rounds in a "split donations" format.
However, Rep. Kang argued that the split donations allegation is completely untrue. Posting on Kang's social media (SNS) the previous day, Kang said, "There was absolutely no demand for a large donation from former city council member Kim," and noted, "All related questioning and submission of materials took place in the police investigation."
Rep. Kang also said that day, "After confirming that a donation that appeared inappropriate had been deposited, we immediately took steps to return a total of 82 million won in the second half of 2022 and about 50 million won in the second half of 2023."
In Rep. Kang's case, a variable is Kang's status as an incumbent lawmaker with "parliamentary immunity from arrest." Even if prosecutors request an arrest warrant, the court needs the National Assembly's consent to arrest to hold a pretrial detention hearing. A motion to consent to arrest passes if a majority of all members are present and a majority of those present vote in favor.
On the 3rd, after finishing a second round of police questioning, Rep. Kang did not answer when asked by reporters whether the "immunity from arrest" would be maintained.