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A member of the Seoul municipal council has been indicted on a charge of abetting the murder of a wealthy businessman to whom he owed hundreds of thousands of dollars, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Kim Hyung-sik, a 44-year-old Seoul city councilor, allegedly instigated a friend, identified only by his surname, Paeng, to kill the 67-year-old victim, surnamed Song, they said.
The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office said it has also brought murder charges against Paeng for allegedly hitting Song on the head with a blunt object dozens of times at his office in western Seoul on March 3.
An investigation shows that Kim allegedly received a combined 520 million won ($508,000) in kickbacks and free alcohol from Song in exchange for promising him business favors between October 2010 and December 2011, prosecutors said.
Song threatened to upset this year's election campaign by revealing the unpaid debt after Kim had failed to carry out the promises, prosecutors said. The councilor has been pressured to repay the money since late 2012.
Paeng confessed about the alleged contract killing after Kim, who has denied the charges, constantly asked him to commit suicide amid an intense investigation, they added.
"All members of the investigation team will participate at court hearings so that the two suspects would receive hefty prison terms in accordance with their crime," said a prosecutor close to the investigation.
In the June 4 local polls, Kim ran as a candidate of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy and won a seat on the Seoul city council. He left the party after being arrested by police.
In a related matter, the top prosecution office is looking into a bribery list believed to have been written by Song.
The memo includes the names of numerous civil servants, including a senior prosecutor whose identity has been withheld, who are suspected of accepting bribes from Song, according to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. (Yonhap)
