Prosecution Summons Key Witnesses for Questioning
The prosecution investigating allegations of nomination interference and opinion poll manipulation involving Myung Tae-gyun summoned former People Power Party emergency committee chairman Kim Jong-in on the 21st.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's special investigation team for the Myung Tae-gyun case (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Ji-hyung) has been questioning former Chairman Kim as a witness since the morning. The prosecution is expected to verify how Kim came to know Myung, and how he received opinion poll results related to the April 7, 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election from Myung.
Myung previously called former Chairman Kim his "political father" in several media interviews, claiming he assisted the mayoral by-election under Kim's instructions. However, former Chairman Kim denies ever discussing Myung and states that Myung is exaggerating their relationship out of a desire for recognition.
After receiving part of Myung's case from the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office on the 17th of last month, the Central District Prosecutors' Office investigation team has been accelerating its compulsory investigations. On the 20th, they conducted a search and seizure of Mayor Oh's office at Seoul City Hall and his official residence, securing eight mobile phones that the mayor had used in the past or is currently using.
The prosecution is examining allegations that Mirae Korea Research Institute, an opinion polling firm effectively operated by Myung during the Seoul mayoral by-election, conducted 13 undisclosed opinion polls related to Mayor Oh, and that businessman Kim Han-jung, known as a long-time supporter of Mayor Oh, paid 33 million won in polling costs on his behalf.
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