Bae Hyun-jin (left), Member of the People Power Party, and Kwak No-sang, Member of the Songpa District Council. [Photo=Yonhap News·Songpa District Council]

Bae Hyun-jin, a Member of the People Power Party, and Kwak No-sang, a Member of the Songpa District Council, have been reported to the police on suspicion of illegal receipt of political funds and other charges.

The Free Korea Homeland Group (Representative Oh Sang-jong) has filed a complaint with the police against National Assembly Member Bae Hyun-jin and Songpa District Council Member Kwak No-sang for alleged violations of the Political Funds Act, among other charges. The complaint concerns suspicions that the Songpa B district chapter of the People Power Party has been systematically and organizedly collecting funds from its affiliated local council members for years under the pretext of "meeting expenses" and "operating expenses."

Bae Hyun-jin is accused of regularly collecting 50,000 to 100,000 won per month from approximately 17 affiliated members through the steering committee, under the guise of "meeting expenses" and "operating expenses," while serving as the Songpa B district chapter chairman since 2018.

The complaint states, "Most of the collected funds were received in cash, and it has been confirmed through some bank transfer records that the funds were deposited into the account of Songpa District Council Member Kwak No-sang."

Kwak No-sang, who served as the treasurer for the steering committee at the time, is known to have played a key role in directly managing the funds and urging payments.

The Homeland Group stated, "The specific use of the collected funds was not disclosed at all to the steering committee members. In particular, when suspicions were first raised, Kwak fully denied receiving the money, but after clear bank transfer records were presented, he inconsistently provided unscientific and contradictory explanations, such as 'I don't remember' or 'It was used for meals, drinks, and holiday gifts.'"

Furthermore, the group pointed out, "The act of effectively forcing local council members to pay money by abusing the authority of a steering committee chairman of a major party, and managing it opaquely, is a serious crime that severely damages the transparency of political funds in South Korea. Recently, similar suspicions in the constituencies of lawmakers Cho Jung-hoon and Ham Un-kyung led to nomination rights being delegated to the Seoul City Chapter, suggesting that these illegal practices are not just isolated incidents in specific regions but suspected structural problems."

Oh Sang-jong, the representative of the Homeland Group, strongly urged, "We demand that the investigative agencies conduct a thorough investigation to clearly reveal the actual use of the funds and the reality of the illegal collection, and to sternly punish those involved."

 Oh Sang-jong, Representative of the Free Korea Homeland Group. ⒸHanmi Ilbo 

Reporter Lim Yo-hee