People Power Party lawmaker Jin Jong-oh speaks at the standing committee chairmen and secretaries meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 1st. Yonhap News. 

The People Power Party announced on the 1st that it has filed a police complaint against Seoul City Council member Kim Kyung and a staff member from his office for alleged violations of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act and the Public Official Election Act, in connection with allegations raised by its own lawmaker regarding the "mobilization of religious groups for primary elections."

The previous day, lawmaker Jin Jong-oh claimed that "circumstantial evidence has emerged suggesting that a Seoul City Council member from the Democratic Party of Korea attempted to have 3,000 members of a specific religious group join the Democratic Party to vote for a specific candidate in next year's local election primaries," and released a related audio recording.

Jin stated, "When an informant asked the council member about the purpose of the list of 3,000 people, the council member explicitly asked them to support Prime Minister Kim Min-seok."

In response, Council member Kim held a press conference at the National Assembly to deny the allegations, claiming they were fabricated, and announced his departure from the Democratic Party.

Choi Eun-suk, chief spokesperson for the People Power Party, stated to reporters after submitting the complaint to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, "This is a grave crime that severely undermines party democracy and the fairness of elections," adding, "We have requested a thorough investigation into whether Prime Minister Kim was involved in these allegations."

After submitting the complaint, lawmaker Jin, Chief Spokesperson Choi, and lawmaker Kang Sun-young visited the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, to report the same allegations against Council member Kim and others, urging a thorough investigation.

Yonhap News