Rep. Kang Seon-woo sentenced to first trial for '100 million donation donation'... Prosecutors seek 4 years in prison

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Bitna Kim = The first trial judgment on independent lawmaker Kang Seon-woo and former Seoul city council member Kim Kyung, who were indicted on charges of exchanging 100 million won in exchange for a city council member nomination, will be announced on the 14th.

Chief Judge Lee Chun-geun of the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 1 will hold a sentencing hearing at 1:30 p.m. on this day in the case of Rep. Kang and former city councilor Kim on charges of violating the Political Fund Act.

In the previous decision trial, the prosecution sought 4 years in prison and a fine of 100 million won for Rep. Kang, and 2 years in prison for former city council member Kim.

The prosecution pointed out that the two people "damaged the public's trust by making the recommendation of candidates for public office the subject of a large amount of money transactions," and "Political nominations are an important process for selecting candidates, and when money gets involved, fairness is damaged and the damage goes to the voters."

Mr. Nam, a former aide to Rep. Kang who arranged the meeting between the two, was sentenced to one year in prison.

Rep. Kang and former city councilor Kim were arrested and indicted last March on charges of meeting at a hotel in Yongsan-gu in January 2022 ahead of the local elections and exchanging shopping bags containing 100 million won in exchange for nominations.

However, he was released on bail ahead of the expiration of his arrest on the 22nd of last month and was sentenced in the first trial without detention.

Former Rep. Kim and Mr. Nam admitted to the donation charge during the trial, but Rep. Kang completely denies the charge.

Separately from this case, Rep. Kang and former city councilor Kim were additionally indicted last month on charges of donating over 130 million won in the names of dozens of people.

The appeal trial ruling for former Chief of the National Security Agency Park Jong-jun, who was indicted on charges of deleting private phone information of former President Yoon Seok-yeol and others after the 12/3 martial law incident and was found not guilty in the first trial, will also be delivered on this day.

The appeal trial of former Director Park's alleged destruction of evidence is being heard by Seoul High Court Criminal Division 12-2 (High Court Judges Cho Jin-gu, Kim Min-ah, and Lee Seung-cheol).

Former Director Park was handed over to trial in December last year on charges of arbitrarily deleting secret phone information of former President Yoon, former First Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Service Hong Jang-won, and former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Kim Bong-sik through 'remote logout' after the martial law situation.

The first trial found former Director Park not guilty, saying it could not be assumed that he had intentional destruction of evidence.

They accepted former Minister Park's claim that the information was deleted as a security measure in a situation where former President Yoon's secret phone ID was exposed.

Separately from this incident, former Director Park was indicted on charges of obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant for former President Yoon by the High-ranking Public Officials Crime Investigation Office and was sentenced to four years in prison in the first trial.

The appeal judgment is scheduled for the 28th.