'Money Envelope Suspicion' Yoon Gwansuk and Lee Seongman Leave Party "Will Temporarily Leave Party to Confidently Face Prosecution"

Yoon Kwan-seok "Heart of Serving the Country First, Sincerely Fulfilling Legal Duties"
Lee Sung-man "Leaving the Party to Fight Legally... Will Fight Alone for the Truth"

On the 3rd, Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man, lawmakers involved in the 'money envelope suspicion' during the 2021 Democratic Party leadership election, declared their voluntary withdrawal from the party at the party caucus meeting. They emphasized 'putting the party before personal interests,' stating they would not become a 'hindrance' to the party ahead of next year's general election.

At the caucus meeting held at the National Assembly that afternoon, Lee said, "Today, I will leave the Democratic Party and stand alone in the harsh wilderness," expressing his intention to leave the party.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee apologized, saying, "I am sorry and regret causing burden and concern to the party due to the suspicion related to the last leadership election," adding, "Especially at a time when the Yoon Seok-yeol government’s failures have reached a peak and the Democratic Party must stand firmly for the people more than ever, it was a heartbreaking time not to be able to show the proud image of the Democratic Party to the public because of issues related to me."

He continued, "Now, I will fight alone for the truth," emphasizing, "The obstacles have been removed. Please unite tightly around Representative Lee Jae-myung and protect the Republic of Korea against the Yoon government’s failures and the prosecutorial dictatorship’s violence."

Lawmaker Yoon also shared his stance on his voluntary withdrawal on Facebook.

In a post titled "I will temporarily leave the party with a heart of putting the party before personal interests and stand firmly against political prosecution," Yoon stated, "I will immediately withdraw from the party right after the caucus meeting. Although I will leave the party temporarily, I will correct the facts and restore my honor and definitely return to the Democratic Party."

He said, "In fact, regarding this case, there have only been one-sided reports about the prosecution’s charges and the circumstances of the recorded conversations, and I have not yet been summoned for investigation," adding, "There are many things I want to refute and say about various matters, but I will sincerely cooperate with the upcoming prosecution investigation and judicial process, actively clarify and correct this issue."

After the caucus meeting, Yoon told reporters, "I will prepare to submit my withdrawal application immediately," and "I will submit it within today."

When asked whether there was a party-level recommendation to withdraw, he replied, "I made the decision with the attitude of putting the party before personal interests," and added, "Withdrawal is a political act that concerns one’s political life, and ultimately it is a political act made through one’s own decision."

Lee also denied the possibility of pressure from the party leadership to withdraw, saying, "Would they make such a request to me?"

Lee said, "I thought that our party should take a clearer stance, but I felt that actively moving forward on this issue was becoming a constraint, so I decided to step down myself."

Meanwhile, the prosecution is investigating allegations that, just before the Democratic Party leadership election in April 2021, the camp of former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil delivered a total of 94 million KRW to incumbent lawmakers, regional situation room chiefs, and regional headquarters chiefs. Yoon and Lee are suspected of receiving 10 money envelopes containing 3 million KRW each from former Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jung-geun and distributing them to 10 Democratic Party lawmakers.

Both lawmakers have claimed their innocence and had shown a reserved stance toward withdrawal demands, but ultimately decided to voluntarily leave the party on this day, judging that they had become a burden to the party ahead of next year’s general election.

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