Prosecutors Reveal Names of 21 Suspected Attendees in Court Over 'Democratic Party Money Envelope' Meeting

The prosecution publicly disclosed the real names of 21 Democratic Party lawmakers suspected of having attended at least once a meeting where cash envelopes were allegedly distributed during the 2021 Democratic Party leadership election.

Former aide Park Yong-su of Song Young-gil, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 20th, during the trial of independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok and others on charges including violation of the Political Parties Act, held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21-2 (Presiding Judges Kim Jeong-gon, Kim Mi-kyung, Heo Kyung-moo), the prosecution displayed the names of the lawmakers on a monitor while cross-examining Park Yong-su, former aide to ex-leader Song Young-gil.

Park is suspected of having delivered ten cash envelopes containing 3 million won each, twice, to Lee Jeong-geun, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, in April 2021. Lee then passed them on to lawmaker Yoon, and the prosecution believes that a total of 60 million won was distributed to Democratic Party lawmakers in two rounds on April 28 and 29 of the same year.

During the trial, when Park said he could not precisely recall the attendees of the weekly Wednesday meetings held from February to April 2021 at the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee chairman’s office in the National Assembly main building, the prosecution displayed the list of attendees on the courtroom screen.

The screen showed the names of 21 Democratic Party lawmakers, including 'Kim Nam-guk, Kim Byung-wook, Kim Seung-nam, Kim Seung-won, Kim Young-ho, Kim Hoe-jae, Min Byung-duk, Park Seong-jun, Park Young-soon, Park Jeong, Baek Hye-ryun, An Ho-young, Yoon Kwan-seok, Yoon Jae-gap, Lee Seong-man, Lee Yong-bin, Im Jong-seong, Jeon Yong-gi, Han Jun-ho, Heo Jong-sik, Hwang Un-ha.'

When the prosecution asked, "Is it correct that these were the members of the lawmakers’ meeting at the time, and that supporters of former leader Song attended at least once?" Park replied, "I cannot confirm their support, but to my recollection, that seems to be the case," adding, "I have never seen lawmaker Park Jeong at the meeting place, and I am uncertain whether lawmaker Kim Nam-guk participated."

Park further stated, "The attendees were not fixed; some came once and did not return, so I cannot remember exactly who attended." He also testified that he did not witness lawmaker Yoon distributing cash envelopes to the lawmakers.

Previously, during the warrant review process for lawmaker Yoon, the prosecution identified 19 Democratic Party lawmakers who received cash envelopes. Among them, 10 reportedly received envelopes on April 28, 2021, at the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee chairman’s office, and the remaining nine received them the following day at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building and other locations.

The list displayed by the prosecution during the trial appears to be the names of lawmakers who attended the meeting suspected by the prosecution to have been the venue where cash envelopes were distributed on April 28.

Regarding this, the court remarked, "It seems that instead of reading out the items written in the cross-examination, the list was displayed on the screen. Since this matter is not directly related to our trial, it could cause misunderstandings," adding, "We will not prohibit it, but since it is a sensitive matter, it appears the prosecution chose to display it on the screen without reading it aloud."

During the trial, Park testified that he prepared and delivered ten cash envelopes containing 3 million won each twice at the request of Lee or Kang Rae-gu, former Standing Auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation. Although Lee and Kang previously testified that they did not inform Park of the number or amount of the cash envelopes, Park insisted, "That is what I heard."

Park acknowledged the illegality of this flow of funds but emphasized, "The situation was urgent at the time," and that he did not report everything to former leader Song.