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Seoul city council member expelled over 'pay-to-play' nomination scandal

Published: 27 Jan. 2026, 20:24 Updated: 28 Jan. 2026, 11:41

Kim Kyung, a Seoul city council member facing pay-to-play allegations with her nomination, answers reporters’ questions as she arrives at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Public Crime Investigation Unit in Mapo District, western Seoul, for police questioning as a suspect. [YONHAP]

Seoul Metropolitan Council member Kim Kyung, who has been accused of paying to secure a Democratic Party (DP) nomination, has been expelled by the council’s ethics panel.

The city council said its ethics committee convened Tuesday afternoon and unanimously decided to expel Kim.

Of the committee’s 15 registered members, three from the liberal DP and nine from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) attended the meeting and all voted for expulsion. Under the Local Autonomy Act, a disciplinary motion can be passed if a majority of the committee is present and a majority of those in attendance vote in favor.

“Kim acknowledged the core allegation of handing over money for her nomination, so we believed the facts could be established,” said Shin Dong-won, chair of the council’s ethics committee. “We determined that Kim violated the duties of integrity and maintaining dignity required of local council members under Article 44 Line 2 of the Local Autonomy Act.”

“The Seoul Metropolitan Council is a representative institution for Seoul’s 10 million residents, and it is held to a higher standard of ethics and morality than any other organization,” Shin said. “Kim seriously undermined the integrity and moral responsibility expected of an elected representative.”

Kim said Monday that she intended to step down. Under Article 89 of the Local Autonomy Act, a local council member’s resignation in principle requires approval by a plenary vote. During a recess, however, the council speaker may decide whether to accept a resignation.

Council Speaker Choi Ho-jung opted not to accept Kim’s resignation immediately, deciding instead to formally convene the ethics committee and determine the level of disciplinary action. The council’s position was that there were no legal restrictions on holding an ethics hearing because Kim remains an incumbent member until the resignation is accepted.

Kim’s move to resign was “not a responsible decision, but a strategic choice calculated to serve her own interests a day before her expulsion,” said Chae Su-ji, a PPP council member representing Yangcheon 1. Resigning to avoid the stigma of being expelled amid “snowballing allegations” was “evasion, not a genuine apology or remorse.”

The opening ceremony of the first plenary session of the 333rd regular session of the Seoul Metropolitan Council is held at the council’s main chamber in Jung District, central Seoul. [NEWS1]

Under Article 100 of the Local Autonomy Act, disciplinary actions against local council members include a warning in an open meeting, an apology in an open meeting, suspension from attending meetings for up to 30 days and expulsion. The ethics committee chose the most severe penalty.

Unlike National Assembly members, local council members do not receive pensions or severance pay, meaning an expulsion does not necessarily carry a greater financial penalty than resignation. But unlike stepping down voluntarily, being forced out through expulsion leaves a disciplinary record and may directly or indirectly affect future political activities.

The Seoul Metropolitan Council will make the final decision on Kim’s expulsion through a vote in a plenary session. The council is scheduled to hold its 334th plenary session from Feb. 24 to March 13. Expulsion requires approval by at least two-thirds of the council’s registered members.

After Kim Kyung, a Seoul city council member under police investigation over pay-to-play allegations with her nomination and lobbying related to a bid for Gangseo District mayor, says she intends to resign, the lights are off in her office at the Seoul Metropolitan Council annex in Jung District, central Seoul, on Jan. 27. [YONHAP]

With 111 members in total — 74 from the PPP, 35 from the DP and two independents including Kim, who left the DP over the scandal — passage of the motion is widely seen as likely. Even before the plenary vote, however, the possibility remains that the council speaker could accept Kim’s resignation, allowing the case to be processed as a resignation rather than an expulsion.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY MOON HEE-CHUL [[email protected]]