People Power Party Rep. Kim Young-sun (left) and Myung Tae-kyun leave the Changwon District Court in South Gyeongsang Province on Thursday afternoon after attending a prearrest detention hearing. (Yonhap)
South Korea's Changwon District Court in South Gyeongsang Province issued arrest warrants early Friday for self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun and former lawmaker Kim Young-sun over alleged fund transfers intended to secure a parliamentary nomination for Myung in the June 2022 by-election.
The high-profile scandal has gained attention amid accusations that President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee interfered in the by-election process. Myung, a broker with a background in public opinion polling, and Kim, a former lawmaker from the ruling People Power Party, now face heightened scrutiny in the expanding investigation.
The court cited concerns over potential evidence tampering as grounds for the arrests after Thursday’s hearing.
Prosecutors allege that former ruling party Rep. Kim funneled funds to Myung — who claimed close ties to the first lady — in violation of political funding laws.
Myung has been at the center of the political scandal, claiming in multiple media reports that he met with Yoon and his wife in June 2021 and provided regular advice to them for about six months, until the end of the presidential primary in November that year.
Myung is suspected of using his connections with Yoon and the first lady to help former Rep. Kim secure the nomination for a parliamentary by-election in Changwon and Uichang, South Gyeongsang Province, in 2022.
Myung allegedly won the nomination for Kim in exchange for conducting customized polls in favor of then-presidential candidate Yoon for free.
In return for this assistance, Myung allegedly received approximately 76 million won ($54,000) from the former lawmaker between August 2022 and November 2023.
The case has drawn further attention since the disclosure by local media last month of a phone call between Yoon and Myung just a day before the president's inauguration in May 2022. During the call, Yoon suggested he had recommended former Rep. Kim to the party's nomination committee.
Myung has been implicated in a political scandal involving allegations of the first lady's interference in People Power Party candidate nominations ahead of the April general elections this year.
Meanwhile, while the Changwon District Prosecutors' Office had requested arrest warrants for four individuals, including Myung, former lawmaker Kim and two politicians who participated in the 2022 local elections in Daegu and Goryeong County, North Gyeongsang Province, the warrants for the latter two were denied.
The court stated Friday, "At this stage, there is insufficient necessity and justification to detain these suspects." Those two individuals allegedly paid around 120 million won each to Myung in late 2021 in exchange for securing nominations in the local elections.
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