[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The prosecution is investigating suspicions that Song Cheol-ho, mayor of Ulsan (71), received tens of millions of won in bribes along with requests from a local businessman.
The prosecution's investigation, which began with allegations of a Blue House-directed investigation and election interference surrounding the 2018 Ulsan mayoral election, appears to have expanded into charges of bribery against Mayor Song.
According to the prosecution on the 28th, the Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-eun), which is investigating the case, filed an arrest warrant for Kim (65), a former head of the election campaign headquarters of Mayor Song and current standing advisor of the Democratic Party Ulsan City Party, applying charges including prior bribery under Article 129, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act and bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
The prosecution alleged in the arrest warrant that Kim received 20 million won before the 2018 local election and 30 million won in April this year from Jang (62), CEO of W, a used car dealership in Ulsan, who was also subject to an arrest warrant on bribery charges, along with requests to facilitate the used car sales business.
The noteworthy charge here is prior bribery (prior acceptance of bribes) under Article 129, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act, which applies when a person who is to become a public official receives a bribe along with a request related to their duties and then actually becomes a public official.
Since Kim, who directly received the money, has never acquired public official status even after receiving the money, it can be inferred that the prosecution concluded that Kim conspired with someone among Mayor Song or his close associates who obtained public official status to receive the bribes.
In this regard, the prosecution reportedly included in the arrest warrant specific circumstances where Jang handed over 20 million won in cash divided into golf ball boxes to Kim at a meeting attended by Mayor Song before the local election, as well as text messages exchanged between Kim and Jang immediately after the transfer of money and goods.
The decision on whether to detain Kim and Jang will be made after a detention hearing conducted by Chief Judge Choi Chang-hoon of the arrest warrant division at the Seoul Central District Court starting at 3 p.m. today.
If the court dismisses the arrest warrant, judging that the prosecution has insufficient evidence to prove that the money Kim received from Jang was a bribe given as a reward along with a request related to official duties, the prosecution's investigation will inevitably lose momentum. Conversely, if the arrest warrant for Kim is issued, the prosecution's investigation into Mayor Song, whom they consider the final recipient of the bribes Kim received, is expected to accelerate.
Meanwhile, Mayor Song's side issued a statement on the same day denying the 30 million won bribery allegations reported the previous day, stating that it was ‘Kim's personal debt unrelated to the election campaign’ and that ‘Mayor Song never received illegal political funds during the election.’
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