'Don Bongtu' Yoon Gwansuk and Lee Seongman Arrest Approval Bill to Be Voted on December 12... Prosecution Indicts Kang Raegu

The National Assembly is expected to hold a vote on June 12 regarding the arrest consent requests for independent lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man, who have been indicted as key suspects in the money envelope distribution incident during the Democratic Party's party convention. This will be the third vote on arrest consent requests for opposition lawmakers since the Yoon Seok-yeol administration began, drawing significant attention to the outcome this time.

Yoon Kwan-seok, Lee Sung-man Independent Members of Parliament
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 28th, the Ministry of Justice submitted the arrest consent requests for the two lawmakers, who are accused of violating the Political Parties Act, to the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 26th after receiving approval from President Yoon Seok-yeol. Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties agreed on the legislative schedule for the June extraordinary session, deciding to hold the vote on the arrest consent requests on the 12th. The requests will be reported at the plenary session on the 30th.

Under the Constitution, members of the National Assembly enjoy the privilege of immunity from arrest and detention without the Assembly's consent during sessions unless caught in flagrante delicto. Therefore, parliamentary consent is required for pre-arrest suspect hearings (warrant hearings) for these lawmakers. The arrest consent request is approved if a majority of the total members are present and a majority of those present vote in favor.

Previously, in December last year, the vote on the arrest consent request for Democratic Party lawmaker Roh Woong-rae, who was indicted on charges of bribery and illegal political funds, was rejected with 101 votes in favor and 161 against out of 271 members present. In February, the arrest consent request for Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung was also rejected with 139 votes in favor and 138 against. At that time, there was strong criticism of a "bulletproof National Assembly" and "protecting one's own members." If the arrest consent requests for these two lawmakers are also rejected this time, it will be difficult to avoid similar criticism.

Once again, the key lies with the Democratic Party, which holds the largest number of seats. Political circles largely analyze that the Democratic Party will not easily oppose the arrest consent requests for the two lawmakers. It is reported that there is a considerable recognition within the party that this case is a serious issue shaking the foundation of democracy. As the prosecution is identifying the lawmakers who received the money envelopes, it is unclear who within the party might be implicated or how many will be involved, making it difficult to fully defend the two lawmakers. The recent controversy over lawmaker Kim Nam-guk's possession of large amounts of virtual assets also seems to have influenced the Democratic Party's exposure to criticism regarding morality.

Meanwhile, on the 26th, the prosecution indicted Kang Rae-gu, former standing auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation. Since Kang's detention period expired on the 27th, prosecution was necessary. This is also interpreted as a move to reaffirm the legitimacy of approving the arrest consent requests for lawmakers Yoon and Lee. The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-chul) has confirmed most of the substance of the case and reportedly included some details in Kang's indictment.

Kang is accused of conspiring with associates from former party leader Song Young-gil's primary campaign, including lawmakers Yoon and Lee, from March to May 2021, to distribute a total of 94 million KRW within the party to ensure Song's election at the party convention. In particular, in April 2021, under Yoon's instructions and encouragement, Kang delivered 20 money envelopes containing 60 million KRW, divided into 300,000 KRW each, to Yoon, labeled as provided to lawmakers, and it was confirmed that all these envelopes were distributed to lawmakers. However, the prosecution did not disclose which lawmakers received the money. Additionally, the prosecution stated in the indictment that Kang instructed and encouraged campaign associates to deliver 28 envelopes (14 million KRW) to regional headquarters chiefs in March and April, and 40 envelopes (20 million KRW) to regional situation room chiefs in April and May.

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