Prosecutors on the 11th returned without filing in court the arrest warrant that police sought for independent lawmaker Kim Byung-kee.
The Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it requested supplementary investigation regarding the arrest warrant for the lawmaker sought by police.
Prosecutors explained, "Considering comprehensively that the lawmaker responded to seven summonses for questioning and the investigative progress over the five months from the final questioning on Apr. 10 to the arrest warrant request, we determined that the explanation for the need for arrest was insufficient."
It added, "After closely reviewing the collected evidence and the suspect's statements, we also requested supplementary investigation because some charges require bolstering of the evidence."
Earlier, on the 7th, the Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Major Crime Investigation Division requested an arrest warrant from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office for the lawmaker on charges including bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, occupational breach of trust, and obstruction of business.
Police applied the bribery charge under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, not ordinary bribery, on the grounds that the bribe Kim received exceeded 30 million won. In the warrant, police specified that Kim is suspected of receiving a total of about 67 million won in salary and his second son's university tuition by getting the second son employed at Jinwoo Industrial in return for legislative activities favoring the corporations.
Regarding the allegation that benefits were received from Korean Air Lines in the form of family hotel vouchers, police applied the bribery charge, concluding that the value exceeded 1 million won based on the initial receipt price in 2023.
In addition, the arrest warrant included charges of privately misusing the business expense card of former Dongjak District Council member Cho Jin-hee (occupational breach of trust); condoning the receipt of 1 billion won in nomination funds by lawmaker Kang Sun-woo of the Democratic Party of Korea (now independent) during the 2022 local elections (obstruction of business); and receiving political donations in return for legislative activities favoring Shilla Leisure (bribery).