Myeong Tae-gyun, a key figure suspected of interfering in candidate nominations, and former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun are expected to be brought to trial.
According to the legal community on the 3rd, the dedicated investigation team of the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office in Gyeongnam, led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Ji-hyung, plans to indict Myeong, who is under detention for violating the Political Funds Act, and former lawmaker Kim on the 3rd.
Preliminary local election candidates A and B, as well as Kim Tae-yeol, director of the public opinion research firm Mirae Hanguk Yeonguso, are also expected to be brought to trial.
Myeong Taekyun (left), who is accused of violating the Political Funds Act, and former lawmaker Kim Youngseon appeared at the Changwon District Court in Gyeongnam to undergo a pre-arrest interrogation. Photo by Lee Seryeong
Myeong and former lawmaker Kim are accused of exchanging approximately 76 million won in salary from August 2022 to November 2023 in return for recommending Kim as a candidate for the National Assembly election.
Myeong is also accused of receiving about 240 million won from preliminary candidates A and B, who were preparing to run in the June 2022 local elections, in exchange for supporting their nominations.
It has been identified that there is a possibility of applying charges of instructing evidence destruction or concealment related to allegations that he told his brother-in-law to dispose of his mobile phone ahead of a search and seizure.
In addition to the Political Funds Act violation charges, the prosecution is investigating allegations of manipulation of public opinion polls during the 2022 presidential and local elections, interference in candidate nominations, and involvement in the site selection for the Changwon 2nd National Industrial Complex.
After indicting five people today on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, the prosecution plans to continue investigations related to the remaining allegations.
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