▲ Rep. Kang Sun-woo (R) and former Seoul city councilor Kim Kyung (Yonhap)

police-bribery scandal

Police refer lawmaker, ex-councilor at center of bribery scandal to prosecution

SEOUL, March 11 (Yonhap) -- Police on Wednesday referred an independent lawmaker and a former Seoul city councilor to the prosecution following their arrest last week over bribery allegations linked to the 2022 local elections.

Rep. Kang Sun-woo, formerly of the ruling Democratic Party (DP), and Kim Kyung were sent to the prosecution on charges of violating political funds and anti-graft laws and others, according to the public crimes division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

Kim is accused of giving Kang a shopping bag containing 100 million won (US$67,800) in cash in January 2022 ahead of the elections in June that year, allegedly in exchange for a DP nomination for a councilor seat in the capital.

The lawmaker served on the party's candidate nomination committee for the capital at the time. Kim ultimately received the nomination and won the election.

Kang has claimed that she did not know the shopping bag contained cash, adding that she returned the money after later discovering it.

Police believe Kang had met Kim with advance knowledge of the cash and spent it on a rental deposit.

A court issued a warrant for their arrest last week, citing concerns of evidence destruction, after the National Assembly last month approved a motion for the lawmaker's detention.

Kang left the DP after the allegations surfaced last December.

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