Police raid construction union over allegations of illegal party sponsoring

Police raid the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' construction union in Jeonju, North Jeolla, on March 14. [YONHAP]

The police raided the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' construction union on allegations of its illegal sponsoring of a liberal party during the general election in 2019.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency sent investigators to 10 affiliated branch offices and residential areas of senior officials of the construction union on Monday morning to secure account books and computer hard drives that may serve as evidence for the illegal funding.

The police will probe the case of the construction union allegedly providing some 60 million won ($46,600) to the Progressive Party, then named People's Party, in December 2019, a few months before the 21st election of legislators.

The police suspect that construction unions made the transaction on separate occasions to make them look like individual donations.

BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]