Five Days After Former Mayor Gong Jaekwang Was Questioned as a Reference Witness
The prosecution, which is investigating allegations that former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife intervened in the nomination process, has summoned the People Power Party's Pyeongtaek mayoral candidate from the 2022 local elections.
According to the legal community on April 29, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's special investigation team on the Myung Tae-gyun allegations (headed by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Ji-hyung) is questioning Choi Ho, a former member of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council, as a reference witness. Choi ran as the People Power Party's candidate for Pyeongtaek mayor in the June 1, 2022 local elections.
The prosecution is investigating suspicions that former President Yoon and his wife backed Choi, who is known to be close to Yoon, as a preliminary candidate during the nomination process for Pyeongtaek mayor. The prosecution's position is that, despite former Pyeongtaek mayor Gong Jae-gwang showing an overwhelming lead in candidate suitability polls, Choi, who was evaluated as lacking competitiveness, received the sole nomination.
At the time, Choi served as a political advisor for the People Power Party's presidential campaign for Yoon Suk-yeol and as a standing advisory committee member of the Presidential Transition Committee. After his nomination was confirmed, Choi announced on his blog, "On March 24, I personally reported on major issues for creating a happy Pyeongtaek as a standing advisory committee member at President-elect Yoon's office, received a promise of enthusiastic support, and obtained the president-elect's signature."
Choi was ultimately defeated in the local election by Democratic Party candidate Jung Jang-sun. In November last year, News Tomato reported that Lee Jun-seok, then leader of the People Power Party and now a member of the Reform New Party, cited the Pyeongtaek mayoral nomination as a representative case of Kim Keon-hee's alleged intervention in local election nominations.
In response, Lee stated on MBC Radio that the Pyeongtaek case was different from the allegations of intervention in Pohang mayoral nominations, saying, "It is true that the nomination process was not conducted properly, and while there are specific things former President Yoon said to me regarding Pohang, I have not heard anything about Pyeongtaek."
Meanwhile, on April 24, the prosecution summoned former mayor Gong Jae-gwang as a reference witness to verify the allegations related to this case.
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