Donbongtu Contest Bowed Lee Jae-myung... "Requested Song Young-gil's Early Return" (Summary)

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on the 17th regarding the 2021 party convention, which has been embroiled in allegations of money envelopes, "As the party leader, I deeply apologize for causing concern to the people." He also mentioned that he requested the early return of former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil, who is currently staying in France.

Before the Democratic Party's Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly that day, Lee issued an official statement regarding the party convention. He said, "There have been continuous reports of unfortunate allegations related to the last party convention. Although the full details of the matter have not yet been revealed, considering the current situation, we judged that it is necessary for the party to make a statement." He added, "The Democratic Party takes this matter very seriously, and as the party leader, I deeply apologize for causing concern to the people because of this incident."

During this process, Lee even stood up and bowed deeply.

He stated, "The party will make efforts to ascertain the exact facts and quickly resolve the situation," and added, "I also want to inform you that we have requested the early return of former leader Song Young-gil for this purpose."

He also urged for a fair investigation by investigative agencies rather than an internal party inquiry. Lee said, "As everyone knows, the party has clear limitations in fact-finding regarding this matter," and "We request a swift and fair investigation by investigative agencies, free from political considerations."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is apologizing on the 17th before the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly regarding allegations that associates of former leader Song Young-gil distributed 94 million won to lawmakers during the 2021 party convention process. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

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He continued, "The Democratic Party will take corresponding responsibility and measures according to the facts and use this incident as an opportunity for a fresh start by firmly establishing fundamental measures to prevent recurrence," and said, "As a public party responsible for the democratic republic of Korea, we once again apologize to the people for causing disappointment and concern."

Currently, the Democratic Party is under suspicion that during the 2021 party convention, former leader Song's side delivered tens of millions of won in political funds. The prosecution conducted searches and seizures on Democratic Party lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lee Sung-man on charges of exchanging illegal political funds to secure Song's election.

The Democratic Party, which had considered conducting its own investigation, decided to focus on fact-finding through investigative agencies without establishing a separate internal investigation body.

Senior spokesperson Kwon Chil-seung explained to reporters, "There was a long discussion and consideration about whether to entrust such matters to a standing body when incidents like this occur," adding, "We judged that conducting an internal investigation was not feasible due to various circumstances and conditions. There was a practical issue of whether effective results could be achieved." He said, "The general consensus was that it would be difficult to present investigation results without investigative authority, so this conclusion was reached."

In this regard, the Democratic Party is known to play a role more in urging former leader Song's return rather than conducting its own fact-finding.

Regarding the party-level apology issued five days after the search and seizure, spokesperson Kwon explained, "At first, there were many things we could not confirm about the outline of the incident," and "The only evidence of this case appears to be a recording, but since the person who made the recording was detained, access was impossible, so the party's approach to the substantive truth was blocked. Therefore, it took time to unofficially grasp the contents."

Within the party, demands for a party-level fact-finding continue. Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-min said on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' "Former leader Song was the candidate at the center of this scandal at the time, and it must be about things that happened to him and those around him," adding, "As a former party leader, he should return quickly to explain, confess, or urge those involved to tell the truth. I think it is a cowardly attitude to be circling around abroad as if it were someone else's problem."

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