Prosecutors to Summon Lawmaker Lee Seong-man of the Democratic Party Involved in 'Money Envelope' Scandal on the 19th

The prosecution investigating the 'cash envelope' allegations related to the Democratic Party of Korea's party convention will summon independent lawmaker Lee Seong-man for questioning on the 19th.

According to political and legal circles on the 15th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-cheol) decided to summon Lee as a suspect at 9 a.m. on the 19th for questioning.

Lee Seong-man, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who expressed his intention to leave the party amid allegations of "2021 party convention money envelopes," is attending a party meeting held at the National Assembly on the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Initially, the prosecution notified Lee's side to appear for questioning on the 16th. However, Lee's side requested a postponement of the investigation schedule citing the National Assembly standing committee schedule, resulting in the date being adjusted to the 19th.

Lee's side explained through a notice, "The dates under discussion with the prosecution were the 16th and 19th, and the 16th was tentatively decided, but it was postponed due to a late scheduling of the standing committee meeting."

Lee is suspected of conspiring with former Korea Water Resources Corporation Standing Auditor Kang Rae-gu and former Incheon City Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs Cho Taek-sang in March 2021 to receive political funds amounting to 10 million won, of which 9 million won was provided to regional campaign headquarters chiefs during the primary campaign, thereby being involved in the distribution of cash envelopes.

The prosecution plans to focus its questioning on Lee regarding the process of distributing the cash envelopes, the source of the funds, and the recipients. Lee is expected to publicly state his position on the matter in front of the press before his appearance.

The so-called 'Lee Jeong-geun recording file' secured by the prosecution contains evidence of money exchanges between Lee and former Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jeong-geun.

It is also reported to include parts presumed to show that Lee shared information about the cash envelope delivery situation with former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil.

Regarding this, Lee has acknowledged having the recorded conversation but stated that the actual context of the remarks differs.

After completing the investigation of Lee, the prosecution plans to summon independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok, who is also suspected of involvement in the cash envelope distribution, for questioning as a suspect. Initially, the prosecution planned to summon Yoon this week as well, but with the delay in Lee's investigation, Yoon's questioning may be postponed to next week.

Both lawmakers left the Democratic Party earlier this month amid the expansion of the cash envelope allegations.

Until now, the prosecution has focused its investigation on the donors who distributed the cash envelopes, recently summoning regional headquarters chiefs suspected of receiving the envelopes for questioning, while concentrating investigative efforts on identifying current Democratic Party lawmakers implicated in receiving the cash envelopes.

Once the investigations of Lee and Yoon are completed, the prosecution is expected to proceed with summoning and questioning Democratic Party lawmakers who received the cash envelopes.

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