South Korea: Police in are looking into a governing party legislator for allegedly accepting bribes

South Korea: According to authorities on Wednesday, police have started looking into claims that Rep. Kang Sun-woo of the governing Democratic Party (DP) received 100 million won (US$69,400) from a municipal councilor in Seoul.

After opposition MPs submitted a complaint alleging bribery against Kang and the council member, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s public criminal investigation unit was tasked with the inquiry, according to Yonhap news agency.

During the 2022 regional elections, Kang has been charged with receiving the funds via an assistant.

The situation gained news lately when it was discovered that Kang had spoken with Representative Kim about the issue.

A local aide received and retained 100 million Korean won from Council member Kim prior to the eighth nationwide simultaneous local elections in April 2022, according to recent allegations that Rep. Kang discussed the matter with Rep. Kim Byung-kee, the secretary of the nomination management committee at the time.

Following their discussion the next day, the Seoul City Party of the Democratic Party of Korea declared that Council member Kim would be the only candidate for the Gangseo District Seoul City Council member post.

This caused controversy since steps to remove the candidate from the nomination were not made even though it was known he had contributed money.

Later in the day, authorities will interrogate an activist who claimed that in September, Rep. Kim met with Park Dae-jun, the CEO of Coupang Corp. at the time, to influence hiring choices about his former staffer.

On Tuesday, the politician resigned from his position as floor leader of the governing party due to growing accusations of misbehavior, including abuse of authority and preferential treatment.