Arrest warrants issued for Myung Tae-kyun and Kim Young-sun in influence-peddling scandal

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Arrest warrants issued for Myung Tae-kyun and Kim Young-sun in influence-peddling scandal

Published: 15 Nov. 2024, 11:03

Myung Tae-kyun, left, a self-proclaimed power broker, and former People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun, who are suspected of involvement in an influence-peddling scandal linked to President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee. [YONHAP]

A court on Friday issued arrest warrants for a self-proclaimed power broker and a former lawmaker at the center of an influence-peddling scandal linked to President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee.

The Changwon District Court issued the warrants for Myung Tae-kyun, the alleged broker who runs a public polling agency, and Kim Young-sun, a former lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party (PPP).

Myung is suspected of receiving approximately 76 million won ($54,100) from Kim, the former lawmaker, on several occasions between August 2022 and November 2023 in exchange for his help in getting her nominated on the PPP ticket ahead of parliamentary by-elections in 2022.

Myung allegedly won the nomination for Kim in exchange for conducting customized polls in favor of then PPP presidential candidate Yoon for free.

The case has drawn further attention since the disclosure last month of a phone call held between Yoon and Myung a day before the president's inauguration in May 2022. During the call, Yoon suggested he had recommended Kim to the PPP's nomination committee.

Prosecutors suspect Kim awarded the money to Myung, who had claimed to have close ties to the first lady, in violation of political funding laws.

Yonhap