Yoon Kwan-seok Sentenced to 2 Years for Money Envelope Scandal... "Democratic Party Vote-Buying Exposed, Must Apologize"

'Donbongtu Sageon' First Court Ruling
"Organized Money Politics... Serious Corruption Crime"

Independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok (formerly of the Democratic Party) was sentenced guilty over allegations of distributing money envelopes during the Democratic Party's party convention, sparking growing criticism of the Democratic Party.

On the 31st, Jeon Ju-hye, floor spokesperson for the People Power Party, issued a statement saying, "The Democratic Party's vote-buying activities have been exposed to the public," and urged, "The Democratic Party should stop further political attacks and apologize to the people."

Jeon added, "Former and current Democratic Party leaders Lee Jae-myung and Song Young-gil have called the prosecution's investigation into the money envelope distribution at the party convention a 'political witch hunt,'" but "the court stated that it undermines the fairness and transparency of the party leadership election and threatens party democracy, deeming the crime very serious." He also pointed out, "Lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Kang Rae-gu, former standing auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation, who were key figures in the money envelope distribution, were sentenced to two years and one year and eight months in prison respectively," calling it "justice served."

Independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok, the key suspect in the Democratic Party's 'party convention money envelope scandal,' is appearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on August 8 to undergo a pre-arrest detention hearing. Photo by Yonhap News

The Reform New Party also called for the Democratic Party to establish party-level measures to prevent recurrence, stating that the party's organized money politics have been revealed. Kim Young-ho, spokesperson for the Reform New Party, said in a statement, "Political parties have the responsibility to lead healthy and transparent internal democracy more than any other group, and there is also a legal obligation not to engage in bribery or inducement during internal elections," adding, "The Democratic Party exploited a legal loophole where internal party elections like the party convention are conducted without restrictions on election expenses or strict supervision by the National Election Commission, unlike public elections."

He continued, "This is a serious corruption crime that regresses party democracy itself and is one of the main reasons why the public distrusts and despises politics," urging, "The Democratic Party and lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok must clearly apologize for such corruption crimes committed within the party and promise the public to prevent recurrence."

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21-2 (Presiding Judges Kim Jeong-gon, Kim Mi-kyung, and Heo Kyung-moo) sentenced Yoon, who was detained and indicted on charges of violating the Political Parties Act, to two years in prison. Kang Rae-gu, former standing auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation, who was also detained and indicted, was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison, fined 6 million KRW, and ordered to pay a 3 million KRW fine.

The court recognized all charges against Yoon and Kang as guilty, stating, "The defendants bear very heavy responsibility as they have greatly damaged the public's trust in party democracy."

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