Court Approves Song Young-gil's Bail Request... Likely to Be Released After 163 Days in Detention

30 Million Won Bail Deposit and Residential Restrictions
Conditions Including Prohibition of Contact with Case-Related Persons

Song Young-gil, the 60-year-old leader of the Sonamu Party, who has been on trial while in custody for charges related to the Democratic Party's money envelope distribution scandal, will be released on bail. It has been 163 days since his arrest on December 19 last year.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Chief Judge Heo Kyung-moo) on the 30th approved Song's bail application.

Song Young-gil, representative of Sonamudang. Photo by Jin-hyung Kang aymsdream@

On this day, the court granted bail to Song with conditions including ▲submission of various pledges related to attendance, evidence tampering, and foreign travel ▲residence restrictions ▲bail bond of 30 million won ▲compliance with designated conditions.

The designated conditions set by the court include ▲mandatory attendance at trials ▲prior notification to and approval from the court for travel abroad or trips lasting more than three days ▲prohibition of meeting or contacting any parties involved in the case by any means, and immediate reporting to the court of any contact received from those parties, including details and circumstances.

Song had requested a non-custodial trial from the court on February 27, ahead of the general election, but it was dismissed on March 29. He then submitted a second bail application 49 days later, on the 17th.

The court's decision to grant bail is interpreted as a measure considering that the witness examination phase is virtually complete, reducing the possibility of evidence tampering, and that the expiration of Song's first-instance detention period is approaching.

Song was arrested and indicted on January 4 this year on charges including distributing money envelopes totaling 606.5 million won to party officials at the 2021 Democratic Party convention and receiving illegal political funds amounting to 763 million won under the name of donations through an external organization, the Corporation for Research on Livelihood Issues (Meoksayeon).

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