'Suspicion of Cash Envelope' Song Young-gil Appears for Warrant Hearing... "Will Explain Sincerely"

Prosecutors Involved in Distributing Over 60 Million Won at Party Convention... Received Illegal Political Funds Exceeding 700 Million Won
Song: "This Was Transparently Reported Through Official Sponsorship Accounts... Prosecution Conducted Separate Investigation"

Song Young-gil, former leader of the Democratic Party, who is accused of involvement in the money envelope scandal during the Democratic Party leadership election and illegal political fund receipt through an external support organization, appeared for a warrant hearing on the 18th. The decision on whether to detain Song is expected to be made late in the afternoon of the same day or in the early hours of the 19th.

Song Young-gil, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is suspected of distributing money envelopes during the party's presidential election, is attending the warrant hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 18th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The decision on Song's detention is likely to hinge on how the prosecution explains that Song was aware of the distribution of money envelopes during the party leadership race and whether the court recognizes the risk of evidence destruction, such as coordinating statements with involved parties.

At around 9:45 a.m., Song appeared at the Seoul Central District Court for the warrant hearing and responded to reporters' questions about how he would explain himself during the hearing by saying, "I exercised my right to remain silent with the prosecution, and I will consult well with my lawyer to humbly and sincerely explain myself to the court."

When asked if he had attempted to persuade campaign staff to avoid punishment, he said, "The prosecution has the authority to conduct search warrants and has searched over 100 people around me, and during that process, someone even died. I am exercising my legitimate right to defense as a suspect against such coercive investigations by the prosecution."

Regarding whether he received illegal political funds, he replied, "I did not receive it personally; the amount was deposited into the official support account of the Peace and Livelihood Issues Research Institute (Meoksayeon) and was transparently reported officially. In April, the prosecution took all the materials during the search, and since the money envelopes cannot be proven, this will be explained as a separate investigation."

Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Jae-hoon) requested an arrest warrant for Song on charges of violating the Political Parties Act, Political Funds Act, and bribery under the Specific Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act.

According to the prosecution, Song is suspected of being involved in distributing money envelopes totaling 66.5 million KRW to Democratic Party lawmakers and regional headquarters chiefs in March-April 2021 ahead of the party convention.

Song is alleged to have conspired with Kang Rae-gu, former standing auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation, Lee Jeong-geun, former deputy secretary-general of the Democratic Party, and Park Yong-su, former aide, to provide 20 money envelopes (totaling 60 million KRW) intended for lawmakers to independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok on April 27-28, 2021, in two installments.

The prosecution believes that to facilitate this, Song received 50 million KRW in off-the-books campaign funds from entrepreneur Kim, identified as a sponsor in the campaign on April 19, 2021.

There is also suspicion that Song received 10 million KRW in off-the-books campaign funds from independent lawmaker Lee Seong-man on March 30, 2021, and subsequently distributed money envelopes totaling 6.5 million KRW to regional headquarters chiefs as activity expenses on March 30 and April 11, 2021.

The prosecution also charged Song with receiving a total of 763 million KRW in illegal political funds from seven individuals through the external support organization "Peace and Livelihood Issues Research Institute" (Meoksayeon) from January 2020 to December 2021.

Among these, the prosecution judged that the 40 million KRW Song received from Park Yong-ha, former chairman of the Yeosu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in July-August 2021 was a bribe given along with an illicit request to persuade for the expedited approval process related to the new and expanded incineration facility in the Yeosu National Industrial Complex.

The total amount of illegal political funds Song received through Meoksayeon donations and off-the-books campaign funds is approximately 820 million KRW.

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