Song Young-gil's 'Illegal Donation Suspicion' Investigation Review Committee Meeting Decision Expected as Early as Today

The decision on whether to convene the Prosecutors' Investigation Deliberation Committee to review the legitimacy of the prosecution's investigation into former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil's alleged illegal political funds and bribery charges is expected to be made as early as the 20th.

Former Song Young-gil, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

According to legal circles, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office will hold a referral deliberation committee at 2 p.m. on the same day to decide whether to accept former leader Song's request to convene the Prosecutors' Investigation Deliberation Committee.

Earlier, on the 3rd, former leader Song submitted an application to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office requesting the convening of the Investigation Deliberation Committee. Song's side argued that the prosecution's investigation into the funding details of the Meoksa Research Institute (Meoksa-yeon), obtained during the investigation of the Democratic Party leadership election money envelope distribution case, and the investigation into the fundraising process of Meoksa-yeon and its connection to Song Young-gil constituted an illegal 'fishing expedition' and separate investigation.

The prosecution has been investigating for seven months the allegation that Song Young-gil's election campaign, who ran for party leader at the 2021 Democratic Party leadership election, distributed money envelopes to party insiders to garner support for Song. During this process, the prosecution detected circumstances suggesting that Meoksa-yeon's funds flowed to the campaign and expanded the investigation into illegal donations. The prosecution stated that it was necessary to verify the source of funds while investigating the money envelope distribution case, which led to the investigation of Meoksa-yeon, and that this was a lawful investigation not unrelated to the main money envelope distribution case.

The referral deliberation committee consists of 15 citizen prosecutors randomly selected from among the prosecution's citizen members. They conduct a closed deliberation based on written opinions submitted by Song's side and the chief prosecutor. If a majority of the 15 citizen members agree, Song's agenda will be referred, and the Investigation Deliberation Committee will be convened.

The Investigation Deliberation Committee is an organization established at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to deliberate on whether to continue investigations or prosecute in cases that raise public suspicion or attract social attention. Although the committee's conclusions are non-binding recommendations, the chief prosecutor must respect them when deciding on investigation and prosecution.

Meanwhile, on the 27th, a referral deliberation committee will be held for reporter Heo Jae-hyun of Report Act, who is under investigation for allegedly making false reports unfavorable to President Yoon Seok-youl ahead of last year's presidential election. Reporter Heo is under prosecution investigation for allegedly conspiring with Democratic Party officials to report false facts about Yoon Seok-youl, then the People Power Party candidate, during the last year's presidential election period. The prosecution applied charges of defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act. Reporter Heo argued that defamation is not within the scope of direct prosecution by the prosecution and applied for the convening of the Prosecutors' Investigation Deliberation Committee on the 13th.

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