The prosecution is investigating allegations of nomination interference and illegal polling by Myeong Tae-gyun, known as a political broker, and has called in Han Ki-ho, a People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker, for questioning. Han was the deputy chairman of the PPP’s Nomination Management Committee during the June 1, 2022, local and by-elections and is the first incumbent lawmaker to be summoned in relation to Myeong’s case.
According to the legal community on the 18th, the Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office summoned Han in Seoul the previous day as a witness.
Earlier, on October 31, the Democratic Party held an urgent press conference, raising suspicions of nomination interference by President Yoon Suk-yeol. The Democratic Party released a recorded phone call on May 9, 2022, the day before President Yoon’s inauguration and the day before the announcement of PPP’s by-election candidate for Changwon’s Uichang district. The recording allegedly contains President Yoon telling Myeong, “I have been working hard for Kim Young-sun since the primary, so do something for Kim Young-sun, but there are many talks within the party.”
Myeong’s defense lawyer claimed on MBC Radio’s ‘Kim Jong-bae’s Focus’ on the 16th that Myeong submitted a ‘golden phone’ to the prosecution, containing a direction from President Yoon to Woon Sang-hyun, the then-chairman of the nomination committee, to nominate former PPP lawmaker Kim Young-sun.
The prosecution reportedly inquired from Han whether President Yoon requested or instructed the nomination committee regarding Kim’s nomination in the Changwon’s Uichang district during the June 1 by-election.
The prosecution also plans to continue questioning other key figures, including Kang Dae-sik, another member of the nomination committee at that time.