Prosecutors Indict Former Aide to Song Young-gil Over 'Money Envelope' Case

Park Yong-su (53), a former aide to former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil and a key suspect in the 'Democratic Party Leadership Election Money Envelope Scandal,' was indicted on the 21st.

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 at the Seoul Central District Court on the 3rd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-chul) formally charged Park with violations of the Political Parties Act, Political Funds Act, Act on the Regulation of Concealment of Crime Proceeds, and obstruction of evidence. The prosecution plans to intensify investigations into the involvement of incumbent Democratic Party lawmakers, identified as donors and recipients, as well as former leader Song.

Previously, Park was indicted on charges of conspiring with Kang Rae-gu, former Standing Auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation, and Lee Jung-geun, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, to distribute a total of 67.5 million won ahead of the 2021 leadership election.

The prosecution suspects that Park provided 60 million won to independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok, who then allegedly distributed 3 million won each to 20 incumbent lawmakers, including Lee Sung-man. However, this part is reportedly not included in Park's indictment.

Additionally, investigations revealed that Park gave 500,000 won to Lee, a Seoul regional situation room chief, as campaign activity expenses, and 7 million won to another Seoul regional situation room chief as funds for operating a call center for telephone campaigning.

Former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil, who is under suspicion of money envelope allegations related to the party convention, is making a statement after leaving the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 7th of last month without being questioned. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Park is also accused of having the consulting firm 'Yamjeonhan Goyangi' cover 92.4 million won in polling costs related to the primary election using funds from 'Peace and Livelihood Research Institute' (Meoksayeon), an external support organization of former leader Song, and of attempting to conceal this by having Meoksayeon issue false estimates as if the money was spent on other projects.

He is further charged with instructing the secretary-general of Meoksayeon to replace the office computer's hard disk to prevent discovery of materials related to the primary election campaign about a month before Song's departure to France in November last year.

With Park's detention, it is expected that investigations into the involvement of Democratic Party lawmakers and former leader Song will intensify. There is also speculation that arrest warrants may be reissued for lawmakers Yoon and Lee, whose arrest consent motions were previously rejected in the National Assembly. The prosecution is expected to conduct supplementary investigations into the overall management of primary campaign funds before proceeding with questioning former leader Song.

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