Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-wook on the 3rd again rejected allegations raised by the People Power Party, including claims that he paid for sex during a trip to the Philippines. Kim said that if police investigators clear him, the politicians who made the allegations should take responsibility by resigning their parliamentary seats and retiring from politics.
Writing on social media the same day, Kim responded to the People Power Party's Ulsan chapter, which recently called on police to investigate the alleged prostitution in the Philippines. He described the claims as "allegations raised without any basis" and said that "if the police investigation finds no wrongdoing, those irresponsible and cowardly people who raised the allegations and engaged in false propaganda and incitement must immediately retire from politics and resign their parliamentary seats." He added that "some media outlets that amplified and reproduced this must also issue an immediate formal apology to citizens."
Kim said baseless smears had circulated since the June 3 local elections, citing rumors that he was living with a Russian woman, that he had an affair with a yogurt delivery woman and what he called an "affair Olympics." He said critics were now using a trip he made to the Philippines three or four years ago, when he was a lawyer meeting local industry contacts to expand immigration-related work, to allege that he had paid for sex there. "This seems to have gone too far," he said.
"As a result, citizens are drawn into a wasteful dispute, important momentum for city administration is damaged, and the harm comes back to the citizens," he said. "If the politicians who raised these allegations do not retire from politics after the investigation finds no wrongdoing, citizens must deliver a political reckoning with their own hands."
Kim is under police investigation after being reported for alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act and other laws during the June 3 local elections. Complaints have also been filed over allegations of overseas gambling and paying for sex, in addition to the claims raised during the campaign. Police are verifying the facts in the complaints against Kim, including the alleged election law violations.
