Opposition lawmaker convicted of bribe-taking loses parliamentary seat

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- An opposition party lawmaker lost his National
Assembly seat Thursday after the Supreme Court upheld a ruling that sentenced him
to a one-year prison term for taking bribes.

The highest court found Rep. Kim Jong-ryul, a member of the main opposition
Democratic Party (DP), guilty of accepting bribes from construction companies
wanting to bid for the project to relocate Seoul's Dankook University in 2003.
Kim, a former professor and a legal counsel at the university at the time, was
accused of receiving 200 million won (US$167,000) from two companies.
Under the current election law, a confirmed jail term or a fine of over 1 million
won results in the nullification of parliamentary seats.
The latest ruling reduces the number of DP seats to 83 in the 299-seat assembly.
A total of 15 legislators have lost their seats since the current parliament took
office in April last year.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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