Kang Sun-woo sent back to jail after court hands down 2½-year sentence in nomination cash case

Independent lawmaker Kang Sun-woo, a former member of the Democratic Party of Korea, was sentenced to prison Wednesday in his first trial on charges of accepting 100 million won ($74,600) in cash in exchange for a party nomination.

Seoul Central District Court Judge Lee Chun-geun sentenced Kang to two years and six months in prison and ordered him taken into custody in the courtroom. The court also ordered the forfeiture of 100 million won.

Judge Lee sentenced former Seoul Metropolitan Council member Kim Kyung — jointly indicted on charges of handing Kang the 100 million won in exchange for the nomination — to one year in prison. A former aide to Kang identified only by the surname Nam, who was tried alongside the two for arranging their meeting, received a sentence of eight months, suspended for two years.

Kang and Kim were each indicted in March on charges of meeting at a hotel in Yongsan, Seoul, in January 2022 and exchanging a shopping bag containing 100 million won in connection with the nomination of a Seoul city council candidate for that year's local elections. At the time, Kang was a Democratic Party lawmaker representing Gangseo-gu and was serving on the party's candidate nomination management committee for Seoul city council seats. Kim was nominated as the sole Democratic Party candidate for a Seoul city council seat in Gangseo-gu and went on to win the election.

Both had been released on bail last month after their pretrial detention period expired while the first-instance trial was still under way.

Judge Lee found it reasonable to conclude that Kang, as the head of the Democratic Party's Gangseo-gu chapter, "held a position of considerable influence over the nomination process, including identifying candidates and weighing in during the vetting stage," and that he had received the shopping bag containing 100 million won from Kim along with a request for help securing the nomination.

Throughout the trial, Kang denied all charges. His defense argued that Kim and the former aide Nam were lying. Kim and Nam, by contrast, both acknowledged all charges against them.

The court rejected Kang's account.

Judge Lee cited evidence that Kang had been informed through Nam of Kim's intention to run and willingness to provide money before the two met, and noted testimony from those involved that nomination committee members gave significant weight to the chapter head's preferences as the election approached and candidates were being sought.

The judge also pointed to the specificity and internal consistency of Kim's testimony about the cash transfer, as well as statements Kang himself had made in earlier explanations and in a personal statement to the National Assembly that were consistent with having received the shopping bag. On that basis, the court found that Kang had received the shopping bag containing 100 million won and "had at least an implicit awareness that it contained cash."

On sentencing, the court said that "accepting political funds through means not permitted under the Political Funds Act distorts the candidate nomination process" and that the conduct "undermines the fairness of the electoral system and seriously erodes public trust by creating the possibility that someone unfit for public office could be selected as a party-endorsed candidate."

The court added that although "a long-standing social consensus has existed that illegal political funds and nomination-related misconduct must be punished severely," Kang had nonetheless accepted the large sum of 100 million won, making his conduct "highly blameworthy."

Prosecutors had sought a four-year prison term and forfeiture of 100 million won for Kang, and two years for Kim, at the Sept. 16 closing arguments hearing. They sought one year for Nam.

Meanwhile, both Kang and Kim face a separate indictment on charges of conducting so-called split donations — an arrangement in which Kim allegedly funneled more than 130 million won to Kang after the 2022 local elections by making contributions under dozens of different names. Their first hearing in that case is scheduled for Oct. 30.

Kang's defense attorney said immediately after Wednesday's sentencing that the lawmaker intends to appeal.