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Probe into Yoon's alleged nomination interference to be handed to Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office

Published: 17 Feb. 2025, 18:32

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrive at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane, Laos, on Oct. 9, 2024. [YONHAP]

The Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office announced Monday that its investigation into a scandal regarding President Yoon Suk Yeol’s alleged interference in parliamentary candidate nominations will be handed over to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

The transfer signals that the prosecution’s focus in the case is likely to shift to Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee, who are both accused of meddling in the conservative People Power Party’s (PPP) candidate selection process at the behest of self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun ahead of multiple parliamentary elections.

In return for allegedly running free opinion surveys on Yoon’s behalf during his successful election campaign, Myung is suspected of soliciting the president’s support for former PPP lawmaker Kim Young-sun’s nomination as the party’s candidate in the 2022 June by-election to fill Changwon Uichang parliamentary constituency.

Kim ended up as the party’s nominee in the race, which she eventually won. She served a single term as a lawmaker.

Myung is also accused of receiving approximately 80.7 million won ($55,890) from Kim after the election in exchange for his lobbying of the president on her behalf.

Both Myung and Kim Young-sun were indicted by prosecutors in Changwon in early December last year on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, which forbids using money to recommend specific candidates for public office.

The allegations against Kim were first raised by her chief accountant Kang Hye-kyung during a parliamentary audit last year.

Prosecutors have since obtained recordings of phone conversations between Myung and Yoon that took place in 2022.

In the calls, the president can be heard saying he will “speak once more to Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun,” who was then serving as the chief of the PPP’s candidate nomination committee.

A stock photo of former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun, left, and self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun. [YONHAP]

In a recording of a separate call with Myung, first lady Kim can be heard reassuring him that “all will be well” in apparent reference to Kim Young-sun’s nomination.

Prosecutors in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, said they had questioned around 100 people over the course of their investigation, including then-PPP leader Lee Jun-seok, high-ranking party members, presidential officials and eight former and current lawmakers.

Prosecutors in Seoul are expected to continue the investigation by probing the extent of the first couple’s involvement in the PPP’s nomination process and the nature of Myung’s assistance to the president during his election campaign.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]