Prosecutors Detain Song Young-gil's Aide Over 'Money Envelope', Previewing Series of Summons for Democratic Party Lawmakers

Former Aide to Song Young-gil Detained... Court Cites "Risk of Evidence Destruction"
Investigation Regains Momentum After Arrest Approval Bill Rejected

The prosecution investigating the Democratic Party of Korea's 2021 party convention cash envelope distribution allegations secured a foothold for investigating former party leader Song Young-gil and current Democratic Party lawmakers accused of receiving cash envelopes by arresting Park Yong-su, former aide to Song.

Park Yong-su, former aide to Song Young-gil, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who has been indicted on charges including violation of the Political Parties Act, is attending the warrant hearing held on the 3rd at the Seoul Central District Court.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 3rd, Yoo Chang-hoon, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted the warrant hearing for Park and issued an arrest warrant, citing "concerns over evidence destruction."

The prosecution believes that the cash envelopes were delivered to Democratic Party lawmakers through Park. Since the court issued the warrant without questioning the prosecution's presentation of criminal charges against Park or mentioning any "legal or factual disputes," but rather pointed out the possibility of evidence destruction, the prosecution's investigation is expected to gain momentum.

After the arrest approval motions for lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man, who are accused of directly participating in the cash envelope distribution process, were all rejected on the 12th of last month, the prosecution is expected to accelerate the investigation.

According to the prosecution, Park is accused of receiving political funds by paying 92.4 million KRW for public opinion poll costs related to the party leader elections in August 2020 and May 2021 through an external organization called the "Peace and Livelihood Issues Research Institute" (Meoksa-yeon), and of preparing false estimates as if the polls were conducted for the institute's own projects.

He is also accused of conspiring with former Korea Water Resources Corporation Standing Auditor Kang Rae-gu to receive 50 million KRW from sponsor Kim for use as funds for the primary election campaign to elect former leader Song, and conspiring with Kang and former Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jung-geun to provide 60 million KRW to lawmaker Yoon.

Additionally, Park is accused of providing 500,000 KRW to Lee, the Seoul regional situation room chief, as election campaign activity expenses, and conspiring with Lee to operate a call center for telephone election campaigning for another Seoul regional situation room chief, Park, providing 7 million KRW as operating expenses.

With Park's custody secured, the prosecution plans to focus its investigation on proving that former leader Song was either informed about or directly involved in the entire cash envelope distribution process. Previously, Song voluntarily appeared twice before the prosecution, but at that time, the prosecution refused to investigate, stating that "the investigation will proceed according to the appropriate stage." However, the situation has changed with Park's arrest. The prosecution's timetable for summoning former leader Song is now expected to accelerate.

When Park appeared before the prosecution on May 3rd, he denied the very existence of the cash envelopes and completely denied the allegations against him. However, the prosecution specified the individuals involved in the illegal political fund transactions in the arrest warrant application for Park, and the court effectively acknowledged the prosecution's charges against him.

Going forward, the prosecution is expected to begin by summoning the current lawmakers who received the cash envelopes. The key issue is whether former leader Song was at the top of the chain giving orders to produce and distribute the cash envelopes, and the prosecution believes that aide Park could not have prepared cash envelopes worth tens of millions of won without Song's instructions.

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