Song Young-gil, 17.4% Vote Share Despite Running from Prison... Full Election Expense Reimbursement

Higher Vote Percentage Than Lee Nak-yeon Who Got 13.84%
Campaigning Done by Wife and Son Instead

Song Young-gil, the leader of Sonamudang, recorded a vote share of 17.38% in the 22nd National Assembly general election (April 10 general election) held while in prison, and will receive a full refund of election expenses.

According to the vote count results from the Central Election Commission on the 11th, Song ran in the Gwangju Seo-gu Gap electoral district and received 14,292 votes, placing second behind Jo In-cheol of the Democratic Party of Korea.

This number exceeds the combined votes of the other two candidates in the Gwangju Seo-gu Gap district: Ha Heon-sik of the People Power Party (7,498 votes) and Kang Seung-cheol of the Progressive Party (4,174 votes).

In particular, when comparing the eight electoral districts in Gwangju, Song’s vote share is higher than Lee Nak-yeon, the Saerom Mirae candidate in Gwangsan-eul (13.84%), Kang Eun-mi of the Green Justice Party in Seo-gu-eul (14.66%), and Kim Seong-hwan, an independent candidate in Dong-gu-eul (16.16%).

Despite having no opportunity to meet voters directly due to the denial of bail, and with Song’s wife Nam Young-shin and son Song Joo-hwan campaigning on his behalf, he still secured over 15% of the vote and will receive a full refund of election expenses. During the official campaign period, Song requested voter support through a recorded broadcast on KBS Gwangju Broadcasting Headquarters.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, Song was arrested and indicted in January of this year on charges of distributing envelopes containing 660.5 million KRW to party officials at the 2021 Democratic Party convention and receiving a total of 763 million KRW in political funds through an external organization, the nonprofit corporation Research Institute on Livelihood Issues.

After his arrest, he founded Sonamudang and declared his candidacy for the Gwangju Seo-gu Gap district in this general election. He requested bail at the end of February, but the court denied it at the end of last month, citing concerns over evidence tampering.