Song Young-gil Returns Home After 13 Hours of Investigation... Prosecution Likely to Review Warrant Without Additional Interrogation

Former leader Song Young-gil, who appeared before the prosecution on the 8th as a suspect in connection with the Democratic Party's money envelope allegations, underwent a 13-hour investigation and then returned home.

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Jae-hoon) conducted the investigation from 9 a.m. that day based on a 200-page questionnaire regarding Song's alleged violations of the Political Parties Act and the Political Funds Act.

Former leader of the Democratic Party, Song Young-gil, who was identified as the ultimate beneficiary of the Democratic Party's cash envelope scandal, is holding a press conference as he appears for his first summons investigation on the 8th at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Before entering the interrogation room, Song, who had announced at a press conference that he would exercise his right to remain silent, refused to answer key questions during the investigation, which reportedly concluded before the nighttime interrogation (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.) requiring the suspect's consent began.

Afterward, Song reviewed the suspect interrogation record prepared by the prosecutor for about an hour and left the building at 10:07 p.m. The entire investigation process was recorded on video.

Song declined to eat the meals provided by the prosecution, citing that he could not eat the food given, and thus had both lunch and dinner outside the building.

The prosecution first investigated allegations of illegal political fund receipt through the external support organization 'Peace and Livelihood Research Institute' before probing the money envelope allegations related to the party convention.

Since Song publicly stated his intention to explain himself before a judge rather than testify to the prosecution, it is expected that the prosecution will review his custody without additional summons.

Given that Song has consistently denied the allegations from the early stages of the investigation, has not cooperated with the prosecution, and there is a possibility of coordinating testimonies or destroying evidence with related parties, the prevailing view is that the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant for Song is a foregone conclusion.

After the investigation, Song said, "The intention seems to be to damage the Democratic Party's image by playing to the media with summonses of lawmakers and dragging this out until the general election," adding, "The statute of limitations for the Public Official Election Act ends after six months, and the party convention is a much less blameworthy and more autonomous internal party event, so having the special investigation unit investigate this is unprecedented in constitutional history."

He continued, "Special investigations never retreat. If B doesn't work, they try C to request an arrest warrant or prosecution as a matter of practice," and said, "If this case had been assigned to the Public Investigation Division or the Criminal Division from the start, I could have sufficiently testified and expected a closure."

Referring to independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok, who was arrested and indicted over the money envelope case, Song said, "Is it such a serious crime to detain a three-term lawmaker for such a long time? I do not agree," and added, "If it were that serious, it would be time for him to be released."

When asked if investigations into other lawmakers who received money envelopes would continue, he responded, "I don't think it can continue. Does that make sense?" and said, "There is no history of the prosecution investigating such amounts until now."

Song stated that because the prosecution is conducting a political investigation, he had no choice but to exercise his right to remain silent during the investigation and that he would not testify even if summoned again.

Although Song continues to claim ignorance of the matter, those previously indicted in connection with the allegations?including lawmaker Yoon, former Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jung-geun, and a businessman identified as the 'sponsor' who provided funds?have admitted to varying degrees in court that money envelopes were delivered, providing testimony unfavorable to Song.

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