The article was originally published by New Daily and translated by OKN Correspondent.
It has been confirmed that the chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, who is from the liberal Democratic Party (DP), provided sexual escorts for his fellow council members from the same party and other goods and bribes, according to the police.
The scandal is expected to grow as the investigation is underway amid a series of sexual harassment scandals by the DP politicians such as Park Wan-joo, former Seoul mayor Park Won-soon, Oh Geo-don, and Ahn Hee-jung and controversy over alleged sexual harassment incident by incumbent National Assembly lawmaker Choi Kang-wook. In addition, South Chungcheong Governor Yang Seung-jo from the DP was also accused of sexual harassment by a female official from the party.
Furthermore, the time of the incident for the chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council was when the social distancing protocol was strongly enforced due to COVID-19, so he is reportedly suspected of violating the quarantine law.
According to the New Daily’s coverage on May 27, the civic group People’s Livelihood Countermeasures Committee filed a complaint against Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairman Kim In-ho, who was elected from the third electoral district in Dongdaemun-gu, with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on May 2.
In the complaint, which was exclusively confirmed by the New Daily, the civic group claimed that Chairman Kim provided alcohol and sexual services to 30 to 40 Seoul council members at an entertainment establishment in Dongdaemun-gu and delivered them envelopes with money. The civic group said that the chairman called two to three council members at a time and repeated such actions.
According to the contents specified in the complaint, sexual services at the entertainment establishment were carried out after people took an elevator that connects the business to hotel rooms. It is estimated that the amount spent on money, entertainment, and sexual services for the 30 to 40 council members was at least tens of millions of Korean won.
Regarding the allegations, the civic group claimed, “At that time, it was ahead of the DP’s primary race for the second half of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, and Chairman Kim seems to have entertained his colleague council members to get more votes [for him].” The civic group’s argument is that Kim committed such a crime to look good for his fellow council members to win his primary ahead of the election for the chairman seat.
The civic group said it discovered the fact through an anonymous informant. Among the exchanges between council members who were entertained at the time, the expression “how was it then” circulated and finally reported to the civic group.
Furthermore, at that time, the Seoul Metropolitan Government issued an order banning gatherings due to COVID-19, making it impossible for the entertainment establishment to operate in the first place.
Therefore, the civic group added that Chairman Kim violated not only the Act on the Punishment of Arrangement of Commercial Sex Acts, but also the Public Official Election Act, the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, as well as the quarantine law.
Currently, the case has been allocated to the Anti-corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the National Police Agency and is under investigation. A police official admitted to receiving the complaint in a phone call with the New Daily, but said, “There is nothing else to tell you because it is still under investigation,” adding, “Additional internal reports are being made.”
On the other hand, when asked about the authenticity of the case, Chairman Kim strongly denied it, saying, “I have never done that.” He added “Do you have any evidence that I paid for it?”
Meanwhile, the civic group asked the police whether some of the key informants could be judged as public interest informants (who can be protected by the authorities). The police reportedly decided to give an answer to the civic group soon after internal discussions.
