"'Money Envelope Arrest' Song Young-gil, Refuses Prosecutor Summons for Two Consecutive Days"

Song Young-gil, the former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea who was arrested over allegations of money envelope bribery during the party convention, has refused to appear for prosecution interrogation for two consecutive days.

Former leader of the Democratic Party, Song Young-gil, who was identified as the ultimate beneficiary of the Democratic Party's money envelope scandal, is holding a press conference as he appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 8th for his first summons investigation. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The Seoul Central District Court's Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 (Chief Prosecutor Choi Jae-hoon) notified Song on the 21st at 2 p.m. to appear at the prosecution office for questioning, but Song declined, citing a meeting with his lawyer as the reason.

A prosecution official explained Song's refusal by saying, "He roughly exercised his right to remain silent and indicated the need for mental and physical stability." The official added, "Since he was once the leader of the ruling party, we hope he will cooperate with the investigation to uncover the substantive truth."

The prosecution plans to issue another summons to Song. If he continues to ignore the summons, they are considering obtaining an arrest warrant to forcibly bring him in. Considering that Song's detention period has already been extended once, the maximum detention period is until the 6th of next month.

A prosecution official stated, "Based on personal and material evidence, we believe there are circumstances of bribery, so we are coordinating the summons schedule to investigate the details and substance with the involved lawmakers," adding, "Some have already agreed to appear for questioning."

Among the approximately 20 lawmakers suspected of receiving bribes, legal circles expect that independent lawmaker Lee Sung-man, and Democratic Party lawmakers Lim Jong-sung and Heo Jong-sik, who were previously identified by the prosecution and subjected to forced investigation, will be the first to be questioned.