Song Young-gil Refuses Trial and Begins Hunger Strike: "Bail Denial Violates Voting Rights"

Day 1 "Complaints of Needing Psychological Treatment Due to Mental Shock"

Song Young-gil, leader of the Sonamu Party (former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea), began a hunger strike and refused to attend his trial after his bail request was denied.

On the 2nd, Song's legal representative conveyed his position, stating, "The denial of bail infringes on his right to vote. As a form of resistance, he refuses to attend the trial and has started a hunger strike."

Earlier, Song, who founded the Sonamu Party but has been unable to engage in political activities, applied for bail, but the court rejected the request on the 29th of last month.

'Sonamudang' Party Founded
Photo by Yonhap News

Subsequently, on the 1st of this month, Song claimed that he was mentally unstable due to psychological shock. Although he arrived at the court by transport vehicle for the trial held by the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Presiding Judge Heo Kyung-moo), he did not appear in court, stating, "I need psychological treatment due to mental shock caused by the denial of bail."

The court was unable to conduct the scheduled witness examination and postponed the trial to the 3rd. However, with Song refusing to attend the trial and starting a hunger strike, it is highly likely that the trial proceedings will be disrupted.

Song was detained and indicted in January on charges including involvement in distributing 66.5 million won, which included twenty envelopes containing 3 million won each, given to incumbent lawmakers ahead of the party leadership election in May 2021.

Due to the court's denial of bail, Song Young-gil, leader of the Sonamu Party, must run the general election from prison. First page of the Sonamu Party's online campaign materials
[Photo by Sonamu Party]

He is also accused of receiving illegal political funds amounting to 763 million won through an external support organization called the "Peace and Livelihood Research Institute" (Meoksayeon) from January 2020 to December 2021. Prosecutors have applied bribery charges for 40 million won of this amount, considering it as a payoff for favors.

While in prison, Song founded the Sonamu Party and declared his candidacy for the Gwangju Seogap district in the April 10 general election. On the 27th of last month, the Sonamu Party expressed regret in a press release that Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who has a close relationship with Song, and Cho Kuk, leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party from the same pro-democracy camp, did not urge the court to grant bail for Song.

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