Prosecutors Investigate Yoon Kwan-seok for Over 12 Hours Over 'Money Envelope'... Considering Arrest Warrant

The prosecution investigating the Democratic Party of Korea's '2021 party convention money envelope distribution suspicion' summoned independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok on the 22nd and questioned him for over 12 hours.

Independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 23rd, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-chul) summoned Yoon around 10 a.m. the previous day as a suspect on charges including violation of the Political Parties Act and conducted an investigation.

Yoon left the building around 10:42 p.m. after the investigation and went home without responding to reporters' questions.

Unlike independent lawmaker Lee Sung-man, who appeared publicly on the 19th, Yoon appeared privately, avoiding the press. He is suspected of conspiring with former Korea Water Resources Corporation Standing Auditor Kang Rae-gu and others to distribute a total of 60 million won to incumbent lawmakers in April 2021 to support former party leader Song Young-gil's election at the party convention.

The prosecution stated in the search warrant that Yoon instructed that "it is necessary to distribute money to maintain the existing support base," and former auditor Kang raised 60 million won, which was divided into 3 million won portions and delivered to 10 to 20 lawmakers of the same party.

Former auditor Kang is known to have identified Yoon as the person responsible for the money envelopes delivered to incumbent lawmakers during recent prosecution investigations.

In the 'Lee Jung-geun recording' obtained by the prosecution, there is a part where former auditor Kang tells former Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jung-geun, "Brother Gwan-seok (Yoon) said, 'Shouldn't we give some to the lawmakers?'"

Yoon denies the charges, calling it "an unreasonable opposition party suppression planned investigation by the prosecution based solely on statements from persons involved in the case."

The prosecution is also considering requesting an arrest warrant, taking into account the seriousness of the matter, if Yoon continues to deny the charges. If an arrest warrant is requested for an incumbent lawmaker during a session, the court's pre-arrest hearing requires the National Assembly's consent for detention. Accordingly, if the prosecution requests the warrant, the consent motion may be reported at the plenary session scheduled for the 25th.

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