Song Young-gil Repeatedly Appeals for Bail... Senior Civic Leaders Submit Pledge to Accept Punishment

Song Young-gil, leader of the Sonamu Party, who was arrested and indicted on charges including distributing cash envelopes during the Democratic Party leadership election, has once again appealed for bail. On the same day, senior figures from civil society also supported him by submitting a pledge to accept punishment if Song violates bail conditions.

The founding convention of the new party 'Sonamudang,' established in prison by Song Young-gil, the representative of Sonamudang, was held on the afternoon of the 6th at the Roh Moo-hyun Citizen Center Multipurpose Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 20th, Song's legal team submitted reference materials appealing for bail to the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Chief Judge Heo Kyung-moo).

Song's side stated, "With only 25 days left until the general election, it may be the last parliamentary election for politician Song Young-gil," adding, "If he must remain helplessly in detention without even being able to campaign once, it would be an excessively harsh punishment."

On the same day, Song's team also submitted a "Pledge to Accept Punishment Regarding Song Young-gil's Bail," signed by over 4,000 citizens. The pledge includes a statement that "if Song Young-gil flees or commits illegal acts, we will accept punishment for crimes such as harboring a criminal or aiding and abetting perjury."

It is known that five senior figures from civil society, including Father Ham Se-woong, Kim Sang-geun, Chair of the Democratic United Party's National Candidate Recommendation Screening Committee, Lee Bu-young, Chair of the Uri Party, Lim Heon-young, Director of the Institute for National Issues Research, and former National Assembly member Park Seok-mu, also signed the pledge.

During the trial on the 18th, Song also appealed for a non-custodial trial citing the general election, saying, "Please allow me to at least take photos for the election posters."

Song was arrested and indicted on January 4 this year on charges of involvement in distributing cash envelopes totaling 66.5 million won to Democratic Party lawmakers and regional headquarters chiefs in March and April 2021, in an attempt to be elected party leader at the 2021 leadership election.

He is also accused of receiving illegal political funds totaling 763 million won from seven businesspeople under the name of donations through the "Peace and Livelihood Issues Research Institute" (Meoksa-yeon) from January 2020 to December 2021. Among these, the prosecution stated in the indictment that 40 million won received from Park Yong-ha, former chairman of the Yeosu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in July-August 2020 was a bribe received along with an illicit request related to the approval of an incineration facility.

Meanwhile, Song has declared his candidacy for the Gwangju Seo-gap district in the April 10 general election by founding the Sonamu Party while in detention.

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