Prosecutors Summon Incumbent Lawmakers Linked to Democratic Party 'Money Envelope' Scandal... Lee Seong-man on 19th, Yoon Kwan-seok Next Week

The prosecution will summon current lawmakers this week in connection with the 2021 Democratic Party of Korea leadership election cash envelope distribution scandal.

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 Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to the legal community on the 16th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-cheol) will summon independent lawmaker Lee Sung-man for questioning at 9 a.m. on the 19th. The prosecution is also coordinating schedules with independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok to summon him for questioning next week.

This is the first time the prosecution has investigated a sitting lawmaker since starting the investigation into the cash envelope distribution allegations. Initially, the prosecution discussed Lee’s appearance on the scheduled date, but Lee requested a postponement citing National Assembly standing committee schedules, leading to a date adjustment.

The summons of a sitting lawmaker by the prosecution is interpreted as a sign that they have completed understanding the structure of the cash envelope case through witness statements and analysis of seized materials.

Recently, the prosecution secured testimony from former Korea Water Resources Corporation Standing Auditor Kang Rae-gu related to the allegations against Lee, prompting them to summon Lee first. Lee has been under investigation for allegedly intervening in the distribution of 94 million won in cash envelopes within the party to support former party leader Song Young-gil’s election ahead of the May 2021 leadership election. In particular, the prosecution has identified that Lee, in March 2021, colluded with former auditor Kang and former Incheon City Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs Cho Taek-sang to receive a political donation of 10 million won intended for regional headquarters heads. A recording obtained during the investigation from former Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jung-geun reportedly includes a passage where Lee is heard delivering cash envelopes to Lee Jung-geun and sharing this information with former leader Song. Kang recently admitted to most of these details during prosecution questioning.

Yoon Kwan-seok, a member of the Democratic Party who expressed his intention to leave the party amid allegations of '2021 party convention money envelopes,' is interacting with Jeon Hye-sook at a parliamentary meeting held at the National Assembly on the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The prosecution plans to question Lee about the process of distributing the cash envelopes, the source of the funds, and the recipients. At the same time, they are expected to press charges against Yoon as well. Before summoning Yoon for questioning, the prosecution is solidifying the allegations. They aim to clarify the route through which the cash envelopes were delivered to exert pressure on Yoon. If they obtain related testimony from Lee, the prosecution’s questions during Yoon’s interrogation could become even more pointed. Yoon is identified as playing a more leading role than Lee in the cash envelope distribution process. The prosecution suspects that he provided about 60 million won in cash envelopes, each containing 3 million won, to sitting lawmakers.

Once investigations into the two lawmakers are completed, the prosecution is expected to identify the sitting lawmakers who received the money and continue related investigations. Consequently, there is speculation that multiple Democratic Party lawmakers could face prosecution questioning, drawing significant attention to the prosecution’s investigative moves. Former leader Song, the ultimate beneficiary of the cash envelope distribution, is also inevitably subject to investigation.

To this end, the prosecution conducted an additional search of the residence of Park, a former aide to former leader Song, to seize his mobile phone. Park is suspected of acting as a money courier, receiving 60 million won prepared by former auditor Kang, delivering it to former Deputy Secretary-General Lee, and being involved in the distribution of 10 million won to regional situation room heads.

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