Ex-PPP floor leader appears before special counsel in bribery probe

Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the main opposition People Power Party arrives at the office of special counsel Min Joong-ki in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) appeared at a special counsel office in Seoul on Wednesday to be questioned as a suspect about his alleged violation of the political fund law.

Kweon, a five-term lawmaker who served as the PPP's floor leader until June, arrived at the office of special counsel Min Joong-ki at 9:47 a.m., saying that he is innocent of the various suspicions raised by the special counsel team.

Kweon is suspected of receiving 100 million won ($72,000) in illegal political funds from a former official of the Unification Church, surnamed Yun, between 2021 and 2024 while being asked to support church events.

The special counsel team is also investigating an allegation that Kweon received a shopping bag containing cash from Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja. In addition, the team is looking into suspicions that Yun and a shaman close to former first lady Kim Keon Hee recruited a large number of Unification Church members to support Kweon in the PPP leadership election held in March 2023.