Ulsan City Party Standing Advisor and Local Businessman
Prosecutors Showed Confidence with Solid Evidence
But Stumbled Over Legality of Evidence Collection Issues
[Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyung-min and Cho Sung-pil] The rejection of arrest warrants for Kim Mo (65), a standing advisor of the Democratic Party's Ulsan City Party who was suspected of receiving bribes while serving as the head of Song Cheol-ho's Ulsan mayoral election campaign headquarters during the 2018 local elections, and Jang Mo (62), a local businessman who allegedly gave the money, is expected to cause setbacks in the prosecution's investigation. In particular, the court cited that some of the evidence obtained by the prosecution was illegal as a reason for rejecting the warrants, which is likely to deepen the prosecution's dilemma.
On the early morning of the 29th, Chief Judge Choi Chang-hoon, in charge of arrest warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, dismissed all arrest warrants requested by the prosecution for the two individuals. Judge Choi stated, "The evidence collected legally is insufficient to establish probable cause for detention." A legal expert analyzed, "The phrase 'legally obtained evidence' is rarely used as a reason for dismissal. It appears that the legality of the evidence was a key issue."
When requesting the warrants, the prosecution presented as evidence the work notebook of Song Byung-gi (58), former Deputy Mayor of Ulsan City and a close aide to Mayor Song, along with account details of related individuals. Although the prosecution considered the evidence clear and indicative of bribery, the court apparently denied the evidentiary value due to improper collection methods.
As a result, significant damage to the overall prosecution investigation is anticipated. The prosecution had planned to expand the investigation to include bribery allegations against Mayor Song after detaining the two individuals. It was also reported that the prosecution considered the possibility that the bribes received by Kim were used as election funds for Mayor Song. This strategy now requires revision. A prosecution official stated, "We plan to conduct supplementary investigations and consider reapplying for the warrants."
Currently, the prosecution is investigating the Ulsan mayoral election interference allegations in four categories: directive investigations, candidate bribery, pledge formulation, and corruption involving the Ulsan campaign and local officials. The warrant request for Kim, the head of Mayor Song's election campaign headquarters, is related to the fourth category. Although this is a separate case from the main issues of directive investigations and election interference, it could be linked to the main case depending on the ongoing investigation. This includes situations where government or ruling party officials were involved in the bribery process. Some related individuals have been indicted, and trials and investigations are proceeding concurrently.
The Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-eun), which is handling this case, has been continuously summoning and investigating related figures since indicting 13 people, including Mayor Song and Democratic Party elected official Hwang Un-ha, on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act in January. On the 14th, they summoned lawyer Shim Gyu-myeong, who competed with Mayor Song for the Democratic Party's Ulsan mayoral candidacy in 2018, as a witness for questioning.
Meanwhile, on the morning of the same day, the 21st Criminal Division (Chief Judge Kim Mi-ri) of the Seoul Central District Court held the second pretrial hearing for Mayor Song and 13 others.
The prosecution stated, "Co-conspirator and related investigations are ongoing," and added, "Witnesses such as police officers have refused to appear, causing delays in the investigation, and the timing for reviewing and copying case records has also been postponed."
Previously, at the first pretrial hearing last month, the prosecution had stated, "Regarding conspiracy charges, five cases involving 20 people have been partially separated, and investigations are ongoing for the rest," and "Due to witness protection and investigation obstacles, not all case records can be reviewed or copied." The prosecution is expected to summon related individuals sequentially for questioning and to summon former Blue House Chief of Staff Lim Jong-seok, who was excluded from the January indictment, as a suspect for investigation.
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