Independent Lawmaker Kim Byeong-kee Summoned by Police 50 Days After Arrest Warrant Returned

Police investigating cases surrounding independent lawmaker Kim Byeong-kee summoned him today (the 31st).

This comes 50 days after an arrest warrant requested by the police was returned by the prosecution stage along with a request for supplementary investigation, and six months after his seventh round of questioning in April.

The Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Bureau called in lawmaker Kim as a suspect on this day.

Arriving at the Mapo building of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at around 9:56 a.m., lawmaker Kim told reporters when asked about his stance on being summoned for the eighth time, "I have suffered indescribable disadvantages. This is a complaint riddled with malice and falsehoods, no matter who looks at it."

He added, "Nevertheless, it is still time for the investigation. I will faithfully explain and prove my innocence."

When asked, "Circumstances pointing to the tampering of reference witnesses have emerged; do you have anything to say?", he responded that "the reference witnesses distorted the evidence instead" and stated that he would submit objective materials.

Regarding the specific allegation that he attempted contact by making three phone calls to the office manager of the Democratic Party's Dongjak-ga-gap Committee, a key reference witness, he replied, "I did not make those calls."

Police are expected to verify the facts regarding all 13 allegations surrounding lawmaker Kim on this day and intensively question him about circumstances indicating the destruction of evidence uncovered through recent reference witness interrogations.

Police requested an arrest warrant for lawmaker Kim—who faces charges including bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes and obstruction of business—on September 7, but the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office sent it back on the 11th of the same month without requesting an arrest warrant from the court, citing insufficient explanation regarding the necessity of detention.

Police subsequently conducted additional investigations into the possibility of evidence destruction by summoning as reference witnesses Kim's former aide, who exposed various allegations against him, and the person who served as the office manager of the Democratic Party's Dongjak-ga-gap Committee back in 2020 when allegations of nomination contributions involving Kim were raised.

In addition, regarding the allegations of receiving bribes such as his second son's salary from Jinwoo Industrial (Jinwoo Mountain), police conducted reference witness questioning of Jinwoo Industrial employees and applied for a warrant to trace his second son's bank accounts to conduct supplementary investigations.

Today, marked by the eighth round of questioning, also serves as the final day of the case-handling deadline designated by the Police Investigation Deliberation Committee, which had instructed a swift conclusion to the investigation into lawmaker Kim's case.

Previously, the civic group Citizens and Livelihood Measures Committee, which filed the complaint against lawmaker Kim, and Kim's former aide applied for an investigation deliberation regarding the prolonged nature of the probe as it continued for about a year.

On August 25, the investigation deliberation committee instructed the investigation team to "promptly handle the matter within one month."

It subsequently approved the investigation team's request to extend the investigation period until the end of this month in order to fulfill the prosecution's request for supplementary investigation.

Police are expected to initiate procedures to close the investigation as soon as the questioning of lawmaker Kim concludes.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.