Prosecution summons Kang Raegu, 'Party Convention Money Envelope Supplier,' for second interrogation... Considering arrest warrant

The prosecution investigating the 'cash envelope distribution' allegations related to the Democratic Party of Korea's 2021 party convention has summoned Kang Raegu, the Standing Auditor of the Korea Water Resources Corporation, who has been identified as the fund procurement manager, for questioning again on the 19th.

Prosecutors [Photo by Yonhap News]

According to legal circles, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-cheol) re-summoned Kang as a suspect on this day. It has been three days since the investigation on the 16th. The prosecution is reportedly focusing on confirming the details of the fund procurement process and whether former representative Song gave instructions or was aware of it.

The prosecution suspects that Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok and Kang led the illegal distribution of funds within the party to ensure the election of former representative Song Young-gil ahead of the party convention in May 2021. In particular, Kang is believed to have procured 80 million won out of the 94 million won distributed at the convention from acquaintances such as businessmen in the Daejeon area. It is known that Kang admitted to some of these charges during the initial investigation. He denied most of the other allegations.

Considering the seriousness of the matter, the prosecution is reviewing the possibility of requesting an arrest warrant for Kang soon. Especially, as significant parts of the key evidence, the 'Lee Jeong-geun recording file,' have been widely disclosed through the media, there is a high concern that the suspects might coordinate their statements.

The recorded file secured by the prosecution reportedly contains a phone conversation in which Kang reports to former representative Song that he distributed cash envelopes to regional headquarters chiefs, and Song encourages him by saying "Well done."

The recording also includes parts where Lee tells Kang, "'Song (Young-gil) asked if (Kang) Raegu spent a lot of money,'" and mentions Kang as "working hard on the supply struggle, standing at the forefront."

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