Myung: "I am also curious about the truth... I will tell exactly what I know"
Kim's brother summoned for second questioning... Focus on necklace and 'evidence destruction'
Political broker Myung Taegyun, suspected of intervening in candidate selection, is showing his phone as he appears at the Kim Gunhee special investigation office set up in the KT Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 31st to be questioned as a suspect in bribery charges. Photo by Jo Yongjun
Myung Taegyun, a political broker considered a key figure in the "nomination interference allegations" involving former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, appeared before the special prosecutor's team investigating Kim Keon-hee (led by Special Prosecutor Min Junggi).
On July 31, at approximately 9:50 a.m., Myung appeared at the special prosecutor's office located at KT Gwanghwamun Building West in Jongno-gu, Seoul. He stated, "I am also curious about the truth," and added, "Why was I detained, and why should I be indicted? I will tell the special prosecutor exactly what I know."
Starting on this day, the special prosecutor's team will conduct a two-day interrogation of Myung, who is under suspicion for bribery and violations of the Political Funds Act.
Myung is accused of requesting a nomination in exchange for providing public opinion polls. The special prosecutor's team believes that Myung provided free public opinion polls to Kim Keon-hee during the 2022 presidential election, and then lobbied for former lawmaker Kim Youngsun to be nominated as a candidate for the Changwon Uichang constituency in Gyeongnam during the parliamentary by-election held in June of the same year.
It has been determined that Myung provided a total of 81 free public opinion polls. Myung is also implicated in allegations that he intervened in the nomination process during the general elections held in April last year. The special prosecutor is also investigating suspicions that, during last year's parliamentary nomination process, Kim Keon-hee contacted Myung and asked him to assist former prosecutor Kim Sangmin.
Additionally, on this day, the special prosecutor's team is re-summoning Kim Keon-hee's brother, Kim Jinwoo, for questioning. The team is investigating allegations of preferential treatment regarding the route change of the Yangpyeong Expressway, in which Kim Keon-hee's family is implicated. During a search of Kim Jinwoo's mother-in-law's house on July 25, the special prosecutor's team discovered a "Van Cleef & Arpels" necklace believed to have been worn by Kim Keon-hee during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in June 2022, a bundle of cash worth approximately 100 million won, a piece from artist Lee Ufan's "From Point" series, and a necklace set with multiple diamonds.
The special prosecutor's team suspects that these items belong to Kim Keon-hee and are questioning whether she stored them at her brother's mother-in-law's house to destroy evidence. It has been reported that, during the first round of questioning, Kim Jinwoo avoided giving specific statements about these items.
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