Prosecutors May Issue Arrest Warrants for Lee Seong-man and Yoon Kwan-seok Today... Kang Rae-gu Speaks Out on 'Song Young-gil Money Envelope' Case

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Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man, independent lawmakers who are key suspects in the Democratic Party's '2021 Party Convention Money Envelope Distribution Allegation,' and former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil (from left).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The prosecution investigating the Democratic Party of Korea's '2021 Party Convention Money Envelope Distribution Allegation' is expected to file arrest warrants for key suspects Lee Seong-man and independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok, who are involved in the bribery, as early as the 23rd.

According to the legal community on that day, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-chul) summoned lawmaker Yoon from 10 a.m. the previous day and questioned him for over 12 hours, and is now reviewing the filing of an arrest warrant. A prosecution official stated that there is a high possibility of simultaneously filing arrest warrants for both Lee and Yoon, who were summoned and questioned on the 19th.

Since the prosecution must file the arrest warrants today or tomorrow to report the consent for arrest motion at the National Assembly plenary session scheduled for the 25th, there is speculation that the prosecution will soon make a decision regarding the custody of the two. The National Assembly is currently holding a temporary session. If an arrest warrant is filed for a sitting lawmaker during the session, the lawmaker must obtain the National Assembly's consent for arrest to undergo the court's pre-trial detention hearing (warrant review). For the consent motion to pass, a majority of the total members must be present, and a majority of those present must approve.

Additionally, the prosecution is reportedly planning to file an arrest warrant for Park, a former aide to former party leader Song Young-gil, who has been identified as the money envelope distributor.

The prosecution has accelerated the investigation by summoning and questioning two sitting lawmakers consecutively within two working days and moving to secure their custody.

Behind this is former Korea Water Resources Corporation Standing Auditor Kang Rae-gu, who is currently detained. It is rumored that the prosecution's investigation has progressed as Kang has gradually started to speak about the money envelope allegations during recent interrogations. The confrontation interrogation with former Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jeong-geun on the 17th appears to have been decisive. In subsequent questioning, Kang reportedly identified lawmaker Yoon as the person responsible for distributing the money envelopes to sitting lawmakers and also specified some of the lawmakers who received the envelopes. The 'Lee Jeong-geun recording' obtained by the prosecution reportedly includes a part where Kang tells former Deputy Secretary-General Lee, "Brother Gwan-seok (Lawmaker Yoon) said, 'Shouldn't we give some to the lawmakers?'" The prosecution plans to indict Kang before his detention period expires on the 27th.

The prosecution is expected to continue identifying individuals who received the money envelopes and also investigate former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil, who has been identified as the biggest beneficiary in this allegation.

Former leader Song is suspected of either directly ordering or assisting in the distribution of the money envelopes, so he may be summoned for prosecution questioning before the recipients of the envelopes. It is known in political circles that Song has been meeting with close aides daily to check on the prosecution's investigation status, so if the prosecution judges there is a possibility of collusion or evidence destruction, they may summon and question him earlier than expected.

Before investigating former leader Song, the prosecution is reportedly clarifying the exact role of Park, his former aide. This includes whether lawmaker Yoon directly distributed the money envelopes prepared by Kang or if Park received them through Yoon and distributed them. The prosecution is also said to have intensely questioned Yoon about the circumstances of the money envelope distribution. Depending on the role of Park confirmed by the prosecution, the content of the investigation when summoning former leader Song is expected to vary significantly.

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