Self-proclaimed political broker Myung Tae-kyun indicted

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Self-proclaimed political broker Myung Tae-kyun indicted

Published: 03 Dec. 2024, 19:02 Updated: 03 Dec. 2024, 20:26

CHO JUNG-WOO
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Self-proclaimed political broker Myung Tae-kyun leaves the Changwon District Court in South Gyeongsang after attending an arrest warrant hearing on Nov. 14. [NEWS1]

Prosecutors on Tuesday indicted self-proclaimed political broker Myung Tae-kyun and former lawmaker Kim Young-sun on charges of violating political funding laws.

The indictment and detention come a year after the South Gyeongsang regional office of the National Election Commission requested the Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office they conduct an investigation after tracking suspicious transactions of political funds from former conservative People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Kim in December last year.

Myung, a central figure in an influence-peddling scandal involving President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee, is accused of receiving around 80.7 million won ($57,614) in illegal political funds from former Rep. Kim in exchange for helping secure her nomination for the 2022 parliamentary election.

He is also suspected of receiving about 120 million won each from two other candidates running in local elections in exchange for facilitating their nominations.

The two other candidates and a 60-year-old former chief of the polling agency Future Korea Research Institute were indicted for violating political funding laws on the same day. Myung is reportedly involved in operating the Future Korea Research Institute.

In a recording of a May 2022 phone conversation between Yoon and Myung that was released by the liberal Democratic Party in October, the president can be heard telling Myung that he faced pushback from the PPP after he asked its leaders to nominate Kim Young-sun as the party’s candidate in the by-election for Changwon’s Uichang District constituency.

Following his indictment, Myung called for a special investigation into his case through a statement read by his attorney outside the Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office. Myung has been detained since Nov. 15.

“I have concluded that a special probe is the only way to uncover the truth, given how the prosecution is handling this case,” Myung said.

He also denied being the actual owner of the Future Korea Research Institute, which prosecutors claim was used to facilitate the illegal transactions.

“The prosecution has failed to provide any evidence linking me as the owner of the Future Korea Research Institute,” Myung's statement continued.

“Yet, they have indicted me with multiple allegations of receiving money in exchange for nominations.”

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks during an emergency press briefing held at City Hall in central Seoul on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

On the same day, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced he would take legal action against Myung and other individuals connected to the scandal. Myung had alleged that he assisted Oh with polling during the 2021 mayoral election. The Seoul mayor condemned these claims and related media reports as fabrications.

“The act of distorting the truth and spreading false news is unacceptable,” Oh said during an emergency press briefing at City Hall in central Seoul.

Oh said he would file legal complaints for attempted fraud against Myung and former lawmaker Kim, and defamation for media outlets such as Newstapa and News Tomato, which reported on the allegations.

“Their goal is clear: to damage my reputation and launch a political attack,” Oh said, accusing the parties of spreading falsehoods and undermining public trust.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [[email protected]]