Cold Stares from the Ruling Party over Song Young-gil's Failed Appearance... Even the Opposition Feels Uneasy

Jo Eung-cheon "Grounds for Dismissal of Arrest Warrant"
Lee Won-wook "People Will Feel Confused"

Former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil voluntarily appeared at the prosecution but was denied entry, prompting the ruling party to unleash criticism, calling it a 'hypocrite' and 'Hollywood action.' The opposition party interprets it positively as 'an expression of his own will,' but even within the opposition, the view is lukewarm. Some evaluations say, "I don't know why he went."

Kim Byung-min, a Supreme Council member of the People Power Party, wrote on his social media on the 2nd, "You can't cover up the truth about the money envelopes with Hollywood action," and criticized, "How long will you keep blaming the prosecution like a broken record to evade your crimes?"

Former leader Song Young-gil, identified as the key suspect in the 2021 Democratic Party of Korea's party convention cash envelope scandal, voluntarily appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 2nd. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Former leader Song voluntarily appeared at the prosecution that day, but since it was done without prior coordination with the prosecution, he was not allowed entry. Immediately after being denied entry, he told reporters gathered at the scene that it was a 'political investigation' and said, "Please do not harass those around me and arrest me, Song Young-gil."

However, Supreme Council member Kim pointed out, "'If you are going to boldly shout 'Arrest me,' you should coolly admit the charges.' Regarding the reporter's direct question asking whether there was distribution of money envelopes, he dodged by saying, 'I was running around every 30 minutes as a candidate, so there may be situations I don't know about,' thus avoiding responsibility."

Fellow party member Kwon Seong-dong also wrote on social media, "Former leader Song should be reflecting quietly, but instead, he is putting on a voluntary appearance performance and pretending to be magnanimous toward the media," and criticized, "Earlier this year, when party leader Lee Jae-myung appeared at the prosecution, he compared himself to Kim Dae-jung and Jo Bong-am and played the political prisoner role, and former leader Song is doing the same." He referred to former leader Song and leader Lee as 'wigunja (?君子·a person pretending to be a gentleman)."

Regarding former leader Song taking responsibility by leaving the Democratic Party, he questioned, "Is leaving the Democratic Party really taking responsibility? In the Democratic Party, where leaving and rejoining is as common as going in and out of chat rooms, what political meaning does leaving have?"

Within the Democratic Party, former leader Song's attendance is interpreted as an expression of will. Song Gap-seok, a Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' that "Currently, the prosecution's investigation is somewhat slow, and searches around the area are ongoing. In this situation, if there is something to ask directly, he is expressing his will to be accurately investigated."

However, many within the Democratic Party view the uncoordinated attendance with suspicion. Democratic Party lawmaker Cho Eung-cheon said on BBS's 'Jeon Young-shin's Morning Journal' that "He wants to show that he is aware of the prosecution's unfairness and is rather actively cooperating with the investigation, showing that he is confident and dignified."

Cho added, "Also, in preparation for a possible future arrest warrant, he wants to demonstrate empirically that he has no intention of fleeing and cannot flee. By doing so, he aims to build grounds for the dismissal of the arrest warrant. Isn't this a kind of strategic move?"

Fellow party member Lee Won-wook also said on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' that "He shows an attitude of taking responsibility, but it seems ineffective and somewhat confusing to the public," adding, "The public might think, 'Why go if you weren't even called? The prosecution will call you when conditions for investigation are ready.'"

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