'Song Young-gil Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Illegal Political Funds... Detained in First Trial (Comprehensive)'

Guilty of Political Funds Act Violation Related to Meoksa-yeon
Not Guilty of Distributing Money Envelopes at Party Convention
Lee Jeong-geun's Illegally Collected Mobile Phone Recording Admitted as Evidence

Song Young-gil, leader of the Sonamu Party, who was indicted on charges including distributing cash envelopes at the Democratic Party convention and receiving illegal political funds, was sentenced to two years in prison in the first trial.

Song Young-gil, representative of Sonamudang. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 8th, the 21st Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Heo Kyung-moo) sentenced Song, who was charged with violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery), the Political Parties Act, and the Political Funds Act, to two years in prison and ordered his detention in court.

The court found him guilty of violating the Political Funds Act by receiving illegal political funds under the name of donations through the nonprofit organization "Peace and Livelihood Research Institute (Meoksayeon)," an external organization supporting and assisting political activities.

The court stated, “The defendant used legal systems such as nonprofit corporations and designated donation organizations as means to evade the regulations of the Political Funds Act,” and “As a result, based on the organized support of Meoksayeon, which received political funds, he was elected as the Democratic Party leader in 2021.”

Furthermore, the court pointed out, “The legislative intent of the Political Funds Act, which aims to prevent corruption related to political funds and contribute to the sound development of democratic politics, has been severely damaged by this crime,” and “The defendant consistently made an unconvincing excuse that the organized support activities of Meoksayeon members were merely ordinary social activities in their personal capacity and that he was unaware of Meoksayeon’s donations, showing no remorse.”

However, the court acquitted him of the cash envelope-related charges. This was because it could not recognize the evidentiary value of the recorded phone files from Lee Jung-geun, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, which triggered the investigation into the cash envelopes. The court stated, “Electronic information on Lee Jung-geun’s phone unrelated to the Lee Jung-geun mediation bribery case was evidence collected through illegal procedures,” and added, “To suppress illegal searches and seizures by investigative agencies and prevent recurrence, it is inevitable to exclude the evidentiary value of this evidence as the most effective and certain countermeasure.”

Song was indicted on charges of involvement in distributing cash envelopes totaling 66.5 million won to party lawmakers and regional headquarters chiefs from March to April 2021 to secure his election as party leader at the Democratic Party convention. He also faces charges of receiving a total of 763 million won in illegal political funds under the name of donations from seven businesspeople through Meoksayeon from January 2020 to December 2021.

Earlier, in the sentencing hearing last November, the prosecution demanded a nine-year prison sentence for Song. The prosecution stated, “The defendant, a five-term National Assembly member and former mayor of Incheon, was a person who required a higher level of compliance awareness but abused his public position for private gain and violated his duty of integrity.” They added, “He led the receipt of political funds by turning Meoksayeon into his political external organization, induced corporate donations, and used illegal means to evade the regulations of the Political Funds Act.”

On the other hand, in his final statement, Song argued, “The prosecution demanded nine years in prison, calling it a crime that harms party democracy, but Song Young-gil’s election was a revolution in the history of the Democratic Party,” and “The victory of a third candidate, not from any faction, was a victory for grassroots democracy.” He also said, “This indictment is a clear political retaliation investigation.”

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