Kim Yong, a close aide to opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, has asked for bail after he was arrested late last year on bribery and illegal political fund charges connected to a high-profile development corruption scandal, sources said Tuesday.
Kim, former deputy head of the main opposition Democratic Party's Institute for Democracy think tank, filed for bail last Thursday with the Seoul Central District Court, according to the legal sources.
He was indicted with physical detention in November on charges of having received illegal political funds in 2021 from real estate developers at the center of the corruption-ridden development project to build apartment complexes in the Daejang-dong district of Seongnam, south of Seoul.
Kim was also charged with pocketing 190 million won (US$144,486) in bribes from 2013-14 from a former senior official from Seongnam's city development corporation in return for business favors. The ex-senior official, Yoo Dong-gyu, was also charged in the development corruption case.
Kim is refuting the charges, citing a lack of evidence.
The bail request comes about a month before his six-month detention period is set to expire.
By law, prosecutors can detain an accused person for up to six months after indicting him or her unless a court issues an additional arrest warrant. Kim's initial six-month detention period is set to expire on May 7.
Source: Yonhap News Agency