Yoon's National Assembly Office and Former Lawmaker Kim's Changwon Residence Searched
Investigation Expected on Whether Former President Yoon Exerted External Pressure on Nominations
On July 8, the special prosecutor's team led by Min Jungki, which is investigating allegations related to Kim Keonhee, launched a compulsory investigation into Yoon Sanghyun, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, and former lawmaker Kim Youngsun in connection with the alleged intervention in candidate nominations.
According to legal sources, on this day, the Kim Keonhee special prosecutor's team sent investigators to Representative Yoon's National Assembly office to secure documents and files stored on PCs. They also obtained internal documents and related materials from former lawmaker Kim's residence in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.
These individuals are implicated in allegations that former President Yoon Sukyeol and his wife intervened in the nomination process for the 2022 parliamentary by-election. With this search and seizure, the special prosecutor's investigation into the nomination intervention allegations is expected to gain momentum.
Former President Yoon and his wife are suspected of having arranged for former lawmaker Kim to be nominated in the 2022 parliamentary by-election as compensation for receiving free opinion poll services from so-called "political broker" Myung Taegyun during the 20th presidential election campaign. Myung is believed to have conducted a total of 81 illegal opinion polls.
According to a previously released recorded phone call, on May 9, 2022, the day before the People Power Party announced its by-election nominations, former President Yoon told Myung, "I worked hard for Kim Youngsun since the primary, so I asked you to help Kim Youngsun, but there is a lot of talk within the party. I will talk to Sanghyun again since he is the nomination committee chair."
Based on the materials obtained on this day, the special prosecutor's team is expected to focus on investigating whether former President Yoon exerted external pressure on the nomination process through Representative Yoon. After analyzing the seized materials, there is speculation that the team will summon key figures such as Representative Yoon, former lawmaker Kim, and Myung for questioning.
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