Prosecutors Raid National Assembly Secretariat... Tracking Lawmaker's Movements in 'Money Envelope' Bribery Case

The prosecution investigating the Democratic Party of Korea's '2021 Party Convention Money Envelope Suspicion' conducted a search and seizure at the National Assembly Secretariat on the 5th to obtain the entry records of the members of the National Assembly who were identified as recipients.

Prosecution [Photo by Yonhap News]

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-cheol) sent prosecutors and investigators to the National Assembly Secretariat this morning to seize entry records of about 10 lawmakers who belonged to the former representative Song Young-gil's primary campaign during the 2021 party convention, including records from the main National Assembly building and the members' office buildings.

This search and seizure is reportedly aimed at verifying and cross-checking the movements of the lawmakers narrowed down as recipients based on recorded audio files and testimonies from related parties.

Earlier, the prosecution requested the voluntary submission of these entry records from the National Assembly Secretariat at the end of last month, but the Secretariat refused, stating, "Please follow formal procedures such as obtaining a search and seizure warrant."

Previously, when the prosecution requested data for a small number of individuals with specific charges, the Secretariat cooperated for investigative purposes. However, this time, since the request was made for a large number of individuals without specifying the purpose, the Secretariat's position was that they could not comply.

Accordingly, the prosecution obtained a search and seizure warrant from the court and carried out the execution today.

The prosecution is investigating on the grounds that on April 28-29, 2021, just before the party convention, independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok delivered money envelopes containing 3 million won each to up to 20 incumbent lawmakers.