Prosecutors Likely to Seek Arrest Warrant for Yoon Kwan-seok During the Week... Submits Statement and Exercises Right to Remain Silent

Yoon Kwan-seok, an independent lawmaker and suspect in the Democratic Party of Korea's '2021 Party Convention Money Envelope Scandal,' reportedly exercised his right to remain silent during the prosecution's investigation. The prosecution is likely to request an arrest warrant for Yoon within this week.

Independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok Photo by Yonhap News

According to the legal community on the 24th, Yoon appeared on the 22nd before the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-chul) as a suspect on charges including violation of the Political Parties Act, submitting a written statement of about 3 to 4 pages on A4 paper.

The statement reportedly denied any instructions, encouragement, or delivery of money to lawmakers related to the May 2021 party convention. During the investigation, which lasted over 12 hours, Yoon only responded to questions about the fundraising and delivery process, whether former party leader Song Young-gil gave orders or was involved, and the recipients of the money by saying, "I will substitute my answers with the contents of the written statement."

The prosecution is reviewing whether to request an arrest warrant for Yoon. Although Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Seong-man firmly deny the allegations, the prosecution claims to have substantially identified the source, delivery process, and actual recipients of the 94 million won distributed within the party through testimonies from related parties. Considering the seriousness of the matter, it is known that the prosecution is leaning toward requesting an arrest warrant.

Since Yoon is a sitting lawmaker, a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant review) must be held only after the National Assembly passes a motion to consent to his arrest. If the prosecution requests the warrant, the motion to consent to the arrest is likely to be reported at the plenary session on the 30th. Subsequently, the vote is expected to take place at the plenary session during the June extraordinary session of the National Assembly. Considering public opinion surrounding the money envelope scandal, political and legal circles cautiously predict that, unlike during the time of Representative Roh Woong-rae and Party Leader Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea will find it difficult to reject the consent motion this time.

The prosecution plans to indict Kang Rae-gu, former Standing Auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation, who is accused of involvement in the entire process of money distribution, later this week as his detention period expires on the 27th.

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