[Breaking] Prosecution Arrests Former Democratic Party Leader Song Young-gil… Court Cites "Serious Charges and Risk of Evidence Tampering"

Song Young-gil, former leader of the Democratic Party, who is accused of involvement in the distribution of cash envelopes during the Democratic Party convention, was arrested on the 18th.

With the prosecution successfully securing custody of Song, who can be considered the biggest beneficiary of the cash envelope scandal, investigations into Democratic Party lawmakers who received the envelopes are expected to gain momentum.

On the same day, Yoo Chang-hoon, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted the warrant hearing for Song, who was charged with violations of the Political Parties Act, the Political Funds Act, and bribery under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. At around 11:59 p.m., Yoo issued an arrest warrant for Song, stating, "The criminal charges are substantiated, and there is a risk of evidence destruction."

Judge Yoo first stated, "It is clear that the suspect received a large amount of illegal political funds and was partially involved in the receipt of money related to the party leadership election, making this a significant matter."

He continued, "Considering the suspect's actions and all circumstances confirmed during the investigation regarding personal and material evidence, there is also a concern about the destruction of evidence."

Earlier, on the 13th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Jae-hoon) filed an arrest warrant request for Song on charges of violating the Political Parties Act and the Political Funds Act, as well as bribery under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, related to the cash envelope scandal at the Democratic Party convention and donations received from the external support organization 'Peace and Livelihood Research Institute (Meoksayeon)'.

The warrant hearing on the day was held from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Except for the lunch break, it is reported that a fierce battle between the prosecution and Song's side took place for about six hours over the nature of Meoksayeon and related issues.

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