Police Decline to Refer Ulsan Mayor Kim Sangwook in Private Lender Concurrent-Role Case: "No Compensation Was Paid"

Complaints over controversy surrounding concurrent service as a private lender's inside director
Police combine cases filed by Gaseyeon and Jayu Hogukdan

Police have cleared Ulsan Mayor Kim Sangwook, who was reported over allegations that he received a salary while serving as an inside director of a Ulsan-based private lending company during his tenure as a National Assembly member.

Ulsan Mayor Kim Sangwook. Reporter Kim Hyunmin.

According to reporting by The Asia Business Daily on the 11th, the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul decided on the 2nd not to refer Mayor Kim to prosecutors, finding no evidence to support allegations that he violated the Political Funds Act and the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

Earlier, civic group Jayu Hogukdan and the YouTube channel Garo Sero Research Institute (Gaseyeon) filed complaints with police, citing, among other things, the fact that Kim concurrently served as an inside director of Madas Consulting Daebu, a Ulsan-based private lending company, while he was a National Assembly member. After combining the two cases and investigating them, police concluded that the allegations against Kim were unsubstantiated.

Kim was listed as an inside director of Madas Consulting Daebu, a Ulsan-based private lending company, starting in March 2023. The company purchases and manages non-performing loans (NPLs), and Kim is said to have served as a compliance monitor, drawing on his experience as a lawyer to review whether the company was complying with relevant laws.

Kim, a former lawyer, served as a member of the 22nd National Assembly before resigning in April to run for Ulsan mayor. He entered politics as a member of the People Power Party, but switched parties after the December 3 emergency martial law crisis and ran as a Democratic Party of Korea candidate in the local elections.

Controversy over his concurrent position arose after he remained listed as an inside director for about one year and three months after his term as a National Assembly member began in May 2024.

Kim said at the time that he was unaware he had been listed as an inside director and had neither received a salary from the company nor taken part in its decision-making while serving in the National Assembly. The company also said his resignation had simply been processed late and that it had never paid him any remuneration.

However, the decision not to refer the case to prosecutors applies only to the alleged violations of the Political Funds Act and the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, and is separate from any determination of whether he violated the National Assembly Act's ban on holding concurrent positions.

Article 29 of the National Assembly Act generally prohibits National Assembly members from holding concurrent positions. Under Article 155 of the same act, violations may be subject to disciplinary action following a review by the National Assembly Ethics Special Committee.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.