Independent lawmaker Kang Sun-woo filed an appeal one day after receiving a prison sentence in a first trial over accepting 100 million won from former Seoul Metropolitan Council member Kim Kyung in exchange for a party nomination.
Kang's legal team submitted the appeal on the 15th to the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 1 (presided over by Senior Judge Lee Chun-geun), according to legal sources.
The court the previous day sentenced Kang to two years and six months in prison and ordered the forfeiture of 100 million won on charges including violation of the Political Funds Act. Kim, who was tried alongside Kang on charges of handing over the 100 million won, received a one-year prison term. Nam, a former aide to Kang accused of arranging the meeting between the two, was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. The court found that Kang provided substantial assistance to Kim after receiving the money, including expressing active support for Kim during the nomination screening process.
Kang and Kim had earlier been released on bail, but both were detained again immediately after the sentencing on grounds that they posed risks of destroying evidence and fleeing.
Kang was indicted and detained on charges of contacting Kim at a hotel in Yongsan District in January 2022, shortly before local elections, promising a nomination and receiving 100 million won through Nam. At the time, Kang was a Democratic Party lawmaker representing Gangseo District, and Kim was given the party's sole nomination as its Seoul Metropolitan Council candidate for that district and subsequently won the seat.
Immediately after the sentencing, Kang posted on social media that the verdict was deeply unjust and that she had never received any money, signaling plans to appeal.