Rep. Hyun faces arrest for buying candidacy

By Kim Rahn

Prosecutors have confirmed parts of the nomination-buying allegation involving Rep. Hyun Young-hee of the ruling Saenuri Party after questioning her Monday.

They plan to summon Hyun for additional quizzing and will seek an arrest warrant for her violating the Election Law and Political Funds Law.

Prosecutors grilled her for about 13 hours from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning over her allegedly offering a bribe to get a proportional representation seat in April’s parliamentary elections.

Hyun left the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office at 5:40 a.m. “I told prosecutors the facts. The truth will be revealed,” she said.

The first-term lawmaker is alleged to have given 300 million won to the party’s former lawmaker Hyun Ki-hwan, who was in charge of the nominee selection process, through their aides.

She obtained a proportional representative nomination and landed a National Assembly seat.

The prosecution cross-examined Rep. Hyun and her former aide Jeong Dong-geun, who claimed he delivered the money to Hyun Ki-hwan.

Jeong testified that Rep. Hyun gave him a paper bag containing 300 million won in cash at her husband’s office in Busan on March 15. After being ordered to deliver this to Hyun Ki-hwan, Jeong met Cho Ki-moon, an aide to the former lawmaker, at a restaurant in Seoul Station and handed the paper bag to him.

“Hyun denied the suspicions, saying she didn’t withdraw such a large sum of money around that date. But Jeong gave detailed testimony about the money delivery,” a prosecutor said.

Prosecutors also questioned Cho for a second time Tuesday. “He first said he was not even in Seoul on the day, but changed his testimony and admitted to meeting Jeong. But he denies receiving the money,” the prosecutor said.

Jeong also claimed Cho text messaged the former lawmaker after receiving the money, but Cho and the former lawmaker denied this. The prosecution is looking into whether Cho and the former lawmaker contacted each other on the day, whether they used “borrowed-name” phones, and where the former lawmaker was on the day.

“We haven’t confirmed yet whether the money was finally given to the lawmaker. We are looking into every possibility, including Cho’s taking the money on his own,” the prosecutor said.

Besides the nomination-buying allegation, Rep. Hyun is under suspicion that she offered illegal political funds to several other Saenuri Party members ahead of the election.