'Democratic Party Money Envelope' Yoon Kwan-seok Arrested... First Sitting Lawmaker Arrested After Prosecutors' Investigation (Comprehensive)

Yoon Kwan-seok, an independent lawmaker and the key suspect in the Democratic Party's '2021 Party Convention Money Envelope Distribution Allegation,' was arrested on the 4th after the prosecution re-requested an arrest warrant. Since the investigation into the money envelope allegations began, Yoon is the first sitting lawmaker to be detained.

Independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok is appearing at the Seoul District Court on the 4th for the substantive hearing of the arrest warrant as a key suspect in the "money envelope incident." Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

On the same day, Yoon Jae-nam, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive examination) for Yoon and issued the arrest warrant, citing "concerns over evidence tampering."

The arrest warrant for Lee Seong-man, another independent lawmaker who was also subject to an arrest warrant request, was dismissed. Yoo Chang-hoon, the chief judge handling Lee's arrest hearing, ruled, "Considering the investigation so far, which has secured substantial evidence related to the charges, the suspect's involvement and degree of involvement, the suspect's status, and the court hearing results, it is difficult to see any concern for evidence tampering."

Yoon is accused of distributing 3 million won each to 20 sitting Democratic Party lawmakers, totaling 60 million won, on April 28-29, 2021, at the National Assembly main building's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee small conference room and the lawmakers' office building. The prosecution reportedly confirmed through investigation that Yoon instructed the lawmakers to pass the money envelopes and asked them to urge delegates in their respective regions to vote for former party leader Song Young-gil.

Lee is accused of providing 1 million won to Lee Jung-geun, former Democratic Party deputy secretary-general, as operating expenses for the primary campaign in March 2021, and 10 million won in cash to Kang Rae-gu, former standing auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation, and others for regional headquarters chiefs.

Lee is also accused of receiving a money envelope containing 3 million won from Yoon in April of the same year. Among the sitting lawmakers, he is the only one so far identified as a recipient.

Independent lawmaker Lee Sung-man is appearing at the Seoul District Court on the 4th for the substantive hearing of the arrest warrant as a key suspect in the 'money envelope incident.' Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

The prosecution initially requested arrest warrants for the two lawmakers in May, but the warrants were automatically dismissed in June after the National Assembly rejected the consent for their arrest.

During the suspension of the National Assembly session this month, the prosecution supplemented the evidence and re-requested the arrest warrants, leading to a warrant hearing without a National Assembly vote.

With the prosecution successfully securing Yoon's custody, the investigation into the money envelope allegations is expected to accelerate. The task of identifying the sitting lawmakers who received the money envelopes is likely to gain momentum. Yoon is suspected of directly handing money envelopes to 20 lawmakers.

The recorded conversation obtained by the prosecution includes Yoon telling Lee Jung-geun, "I wasn't going to give to the two from Incheon and J, but the kids saw it and said, 'Since you're doing it anyway, give us some too,' so I lost three there." The prosecution identified one of the 'two from Incheon' as Lee.

Additionally, as a close aide to former leader Song and the planner and overseer of the entire primary campaign, Yoon could be a 'key figure' in determining whether Song was involved or gave instructions.

During the maximum 20-day detention period, the prosecution is expected to focus on confirming the lawmakers who received the money envelopes and verifying whether former leader Song was involved.

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