Police Seek Arrest Warrant for Lawmaker Kim Byung-kee After Yearlong Probe

South Korean police have sought an arrest warrant for independent lawmaker Kim Byung-kee after a yearlong investigation into 13 allegations, including nomination-related bribery and requests for jobs for his second son.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Public Crime Investigation Unit said on the 7th that it applied for the warrant under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, citing alleged bribery and obstruction of business. Police said objective evidence supported the allegations and that there was a risk of evidence destruction.

The move came about a year after Dongjak Police Station in Seoul began investigating the case last September, and five months after Kim underwent his final suspect questioning in April. Kim, who had served as floor leader of the Democratic Party, resigned from that post in December last year and left the party in January.

The warrant application identifies five groups of allegations. Police accuse Kim of promising preferential legislative assistance to Soongsil University and a small and midsize company in exchange for requests involving his second son's transfer admission and employment. Investigators reportedly regard the son's wages and tuition, worth tens of millions of won, as bribes. They also consider the parents recipients of the practical benefits gained by their child and therefore parties to the alleged bribery.