Democratic Party: "The Last Truth Will Be Revealed in Trial... No Illegal Political Funds"

On the 19th, officials from the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, who arrested Kim Yong, Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute, on suspicion of receiving illegal funds, attempted to enter the Democratic Party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, to conduct a search of the Democratic Research Institute, but clashed with on-duty staff.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] On the 22nd, the Democratic Party of Korea fiercely criticized the prosecution over the arrest of Kim Yong, Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute and close aide to Representative Lee Jae-myung, former Minister of National Defense Seo Wook, and former Commissioner of the Korea Coast Guard Kim Hong-hee, stating, "The courtroom battle with the fabricated regime has begun."

Spokesperson Kim Eui-gyeom said in a written briefing that day, "The prosecution is distorting and fabricating the substantive truth of the case to protect a regime in crisis." While respecting the court's decision to issue the arrest warrants, Kim asserted, "However, the warrant is not the final judgment. The ultimate truth will be revealed through the trial process." He also condemned, "The ultimate goal of fabricating the truth is likely former President Moon Jae-in and Representative Lee Jae-myung. The Yoon Seok-youl administration is trying to erase the Democratic Party's past, present, and future."

The Democratic Party also focused on defending Deputy Director Kim and Representative Lee by pointing out problems with the prosecution's investigation. Spokesperson Park Sung-jun emphasized in a written briefing regarding the allegations of 'illegal presidential election funds' against Deputy Director Kim, "Kim's political donations amounted to only 500,000 won during the 2018 gubernatorial election," and "He donated 1 million won during the 2021 presidential primary but even got that refunded." He argued, "If he had received several hundred million won in election funds to give to Representative Lee, would he have donated 1 million won and then taken it back? There is no illegal political funding."

Spokesperson Park said, "The prosecution is proposing a belated truth game, one filled with fabrication and distortion, an unfair game," and added, "The prosecution should stop fueling vague distrust by relying on contaminated testimonies and at least make claims that align with reason." The 'contaminated testimonies' Park referred to appear to be the prosecution statements of former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu.

The Democratic Party suspects that former Director Yoo gave false testimony related to Deputy Director Kim to reduce his own sentence. Spokesperson Park also criticized the prosecution's all-out investigation drive against opposition figures, saying, "The winner of the presidential election intends to brand the loser with the stigma of illegality to completely erase them," and "It is a political strategy to divert attention from the president's abusive language to the opposition."

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