Song Young-gil: "Even Jo Guk, who received a prison sentence, can form a party; why can't I be active?"

Prosecution: "Baseless Claims"
Court: "We Will Consider It"

Former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil, who was indicted and detained on suspicion of distributing cash envelopes during the party's leadership election, appealed to the court for bail, citing fairness with Cho Kuk, leader of the Innovation Party.

On the 6th, Song appeared in prison attire at the bail hearing held by the 21st Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Heo Kyung-moo) and made the appeal.

He said, "Former Minister Cho Kuk was sentenced to imprisonment in the second trial but was not detained in court and is now founding and active in a party," adding, "I have not even received a first trial verdict yet and am fighting while claiming innocence, but I find it hard to accept that I cannot found (the Pine Tree Party) and be active today."

This compared Cho's situation, who was indicted on charges including his children's admission fraud and covering up Blue House inspections and sentenced to two years in prison in both the first and second trials, yet was not detained in court to guarantee his right to defense, with Song's own detained status.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Song said, "This election is an important one that will determine the fate of the Republic of Korea for the next four years," and requested, "Please allow me the opportunity to conclude my 25-year political career and be judged by the people."

The prosecution countered, "The defendant's claim of innocence is baseless, and the charges applied can result in a sentence of over 10 years," adding, "There is a serious concern of evidence tampering, so the bail request should be dismissed."

In response, Song retorted, "The prosecution is so powerful under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration; how could I possibly exert psychological pressure?" and added, "Among the seven people related to the 'Peace and Livelihood Research Institute' (Meoksayeon), two died during the investigation process."

The court said, "We will consider the bail approval by comparing the arguments of both sides."

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