'Democratic Party Leadership Election Cash Envelope' Kang Raegu Appears for Detention Hearing "There Will Be a Day to Speak Someday"

Kang Rae-gu, a standing auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation (age 58), who was identified as the intermediary in the Democratic Party of Korea's '2021 Party Convention Money Envelope Suspicion,' appeared before the detention hearing on the 21st. The prosecution plans to secure Kang's custody to investigate the funding and delivery process, as well as to verify whether Song Young-gil, the former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea and the final beneficiary, ordered or was aware of the matter.

Kang Raegu, Standing Auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation Photo by Yonhap News

At 11 a.m. that day, Yoon Jae-nam, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted Kang's pre-arrest detention hearing.

Upon appearing in court, Kang did not respond to reporters' questions such as "Did former leader Song also know about the delivery of the money envelopes?" and "Under whose orders did you deliver them?" However, he said, "There will be a day when I will speak about it," and added, "Today, I will sincerely explain." Kang's detention decision is expected to be made late that afternoon or early the next morning.

Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-chul) requested an arrest warrant for Kang on charges of violating the Political Parties Act and bribery. This is the first arrest warrant requested by the prosecution for a key suspect since the money envelope suspicion surfaced.

Kang is accused of conspiring with Democratic Party officials from March to May 2021 to distribute a total of 94 million won to elect former leader Song at the party convention, instructing and encouraging the provision of money and goods to voters, violating the Political Parties Act. Kang is suspected of leading the process of raising and delivering funds together with Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok.

The prosecution has identified that Kang procured 80 million won out of the 94 million won from businessmen in the Daejeon area and others. Of this, 60 million won was reportedly passed to lawmaker Yoon through Park, a former aide to former leader Song in April 2021, and Lee Jeong-geun, former deputy secretary-general of the Democratic Party (who has been indicted and detained). Subsequently, the money was divided into envelopes containing 3 million won each and delivered to 10 to 20 members of the same party's National Assembly through lawmaker Yoon.

Kang is also reported to have been involved in raising 20 million won around the same time to encourage election campaigning, which was delivered twice in 500,000 won increments to 20 regional situation room chiefs. He then proposed, "Let's pay cash to regional headquarters officials to recruit national delegates and party members," and a total of 14 million won was delivered on March 30 and April 11, 2021, to about 10 and 7 regional headquarters chiefs, respectively.

Additionally, Kang is accused of accepting 3 million won from businessman Park in September 2020 under the pretext of a delivery request for equipment at a power plant under the Water Resources Corporation, constituting bribery.

During the search and seizure of Kang, the prosecution also applied charges of violating the Political Funds Act but excluded them from the current arrest warrant request, considering that further investigation of donors and others was necessary. Having summoned Kang twice for investigation, the prosecution judged that detention was inevitable, considering Kang's evidence concealment and destruction just before the search, concerns about coercion of accomplice testimonies, and the seriousness of the organized large-scale money election case.

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