Is Money Envelope Practice at the Party Convention? ... Court 11 Years Ago Said "High Illegality"

As claims emerged within the Democratic Party downplaying the nature of the cash envelopes distributed at the party's 2021 convention as a kind of 'customary practice' for covering transportation expenses, the 2008 'Hannara Party Cash Envelope Incident' has been recalled in legal circles on the 19th. In that case, the court ruled that the cash envelopes, which were handed out as a customary practice, were improper and convicted those involved. This has led to arguments that the current cash envelope incident should not be taken lightly.

Former National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae
Photo by Asia Economy

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The 2008 'Hannara Party Cash Envelope Incident' centered on former lawmaker Park Hee-tae giving 3 million won to Hannara Party lawmaker Ko Seung-deok in July, ahead of the party convention, in an effort to be elected as the party's Supreme Representative. Ko confessed in a media article at the end of 2011, about three years after the convention, that a person from Han's camp had given him a cash envelope containing 3 million won during the 2008 convention process, which he immediately returned.

Following this, the Hannara Party requested a prosecution investigation, revealing that the source of the cash envelope was former lawmaker Park, who was then the Speaker of the National Assembly. Park initially denied the charges during the investigation but was eventually indicted without detention. In late December 2012, he was sentenced to eight months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence on appeal and was pardoned a month later. As a result of this incident, Park resigned from his position as Speaker and effectively retired from politics.

At the time, former lawmaker Park argued that "the payments were made as a customary practice to cover actual expenses such as transportation and meals for party council chairpersons to attend the voting venue, and were not intended to influence the delegates' decisions."

With a similar incident occurring after 15 years, the Democratic Party has echoed similar reasoning, sparking controversy. On the 18th, Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Sung-ho said in a radio interview, "The public generally thinks the amount is large, but it is mostly for practical expenses like transportation fees, fuel costs, and meal expenses." Considering that delegates dine together on election day and buses are chartered to transport them to the convention hall, this should be seen as a customary practice of supporting such costs.

Democratic Party Supreme Council member Jang Kyung-tae also said on the same day, "It is unlikely that a lawmaker would change support for a party leader candidate over 3 million won, and 500,000 won is less than a month's meal expenses."

However, the court made a different judgment in the 2008 'Hannara Party Cash Envelope Incident.' The first trial in 2012 pointed out, "The act of paying money to party council chairpersons in an election to select the Supreme Representative of the ruling party, who can exert significant influence over the National Assembly and national governance, is highly illegal and blameworthy." Former lawmaker Park was sentenced to eight months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence.

The second trial also emphasized, "Regardless of whether it directly or indirectly influenced the election results, the blameworthiness is not small." However, it added, "The allegations of providing money and goods to local party committee chairpersons at the convention appear to have been a long-standing practice in politics, and there was some aspect of cost support." The Supreme Court upheld this ruling as is.

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