Democratic Party 'Money Envelope' Case First Supreme Court Ruling Today... 2nd Trial '2 Years Imprisonment' Yoon Kwan-seok Appeal Verdict

6 Incumbent Lawmakers Unresponsive to Summons for 10 Months
Final Attendance Warning Until the 17th of Next Month

On the 31st, the Supreme Court will deliver its first ruling on the so-called 'Democratic Party Convention Money Envelope' case, in which former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil allegedly distributed cash envelopes to incumbent Democratic Party lawmakers to secure his election as party leader.

The Supreme Court's Second Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) will announce the verdict at 10:10 a.m. on the same day regarding the appeal case involving former Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok and former Korea Water Resources Corporation Standing Auditor Kang Rae-gu for violations of the Political Parties Act and other charges.

On August 4th last year, Independent lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok appeared at the Seoul Central District Court for a warrant hearing as the key suspect in the 'Democratic Party Money Envelope' case. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

Former lawmaker Yoon was indicted on charges of encouraging election campaign officials to provide cash to Democratic Party lawmakers with voting rights to elect former leader Song as the party leader ahead of the May 2021 Democratic Party convention (solicitation of money or valuables to lawmakers under the Political Parties Act), and for actually receiving a total of 60 million won in two installments of 30 million won each (acceptance of money or valuables under the Political Parties Act).

Kang, a key member of the campaign, reportedly conveyed Yoon's request to Park Yong-su, who was a secretary to former leader Song. Park is said to have provided 20 envelopes containing 3 million won each to Yoon on April 27-28, 2021.

During the investigation and trial, Yoon denied the charges, claiming that he only coordinated with campaign members to prepare the money envelopes and did not order or demand them, acting merely as a messenger.

However, the first-instance court found that Yoon exercised sufficient discretion by specifically determining the amounts provided and sentenced him to two years in prison. Kang, who faced charges of violating the Political Parties Act, the Political Funds Act, and bribery, was sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison, fined 6 million won, and ordered to pay a 3 million won fine.

Both appealed, but the second-instance court upheld the original verdict.

The court at the time criticized Yoon, stating, "Buying voters with money is a serious crime that shakes the roots of democracy," and emphasized the need for strict punishment of the defendant who ordered and accepted money from influential regional committee heads during the party leader election process.

This is the first time the Supreme Court has issued a ruling on the Democratic Party Convention Money Envelope case, which surfaced in April last year and shook the opposition.

If the Supreme Court upholds the second-instance court's ruling and confirms Yoon's guilt, it will effectively recognize the credibility of the key evidence?the recorded phone conversation of former Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jeong-geun?potentially impacting other related cases.

The prosecution believes that the 60 million won arranged by Yoon was distributed to Democratic Party lawmakers over two days, April 28-29, 2021, to support former leader Song's election.

The prosecution separately indicted Yoon, former lawmakers Lee Seong-man and Lim Jong-seong, and current lawmaker Heo Jong-sik on charges of receiving money envelopes. They were found guilty in the first trial and received suspended prison sentences, and are currently undergoing appeal trials.

Song Young-gil, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is suspected of distributing money envelopes during the party's presidential election, is answering reporters' questions as he attends the warrant hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on December 18 last year. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Former leader Song, considered the 'apex' of the allegations, has also been indicted and is undergoing a first trial.

The prosecution continues to investigate seven current and former Democratic Party lawmakers suspected of receiving money envelopes.

Previously, through court rulings, the list of 11 attendees at a meeting of lawmakers supporting former leader Song held on April 28, 2021, in the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's small conference room was disclosed.

The list included former lawmaker Yoon, accused of distributing money envelopes, and lawmakers Heo Jong-sik, Lee Seong-man, and Lim Jong-seong, accused of receiving money envelopes, as well as Democratic Party lawmakers Kim Young-ho, Min Byung-duk, Park Seong-jun, Baek Hye-ryun, Jeon Yong-gi, former lawmaker Park Young-soon, and Hwang Un-ha, a member of the Innovation Party for Justice.

Although the court did not make individual judgments on whether the other attendees received money envelopes, it acknowledged that money envelopes were distributed at the meeting and listed all attendees in the verdict, leading to analyses that the court effectively admitted the possibility that other attendees also received money envelopes.

However, except for former lawmaker Park, who failed to be re-elected and was questioned by prosecutors in July, the other six incumbent lawmakers have refused to respond to prosecutors' summons for ten months since January, citing National Assembly schedules and other reasons.

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Jae-hoon), which is investigating the case, reportedly issued a final warning last week to these incumbent lawmakers refusing to appear, ordering them to report to the prosecution for questioning by the 17th of next month, following the conclusion of the National Assembly inspection of the Ministry of Justice and prosecution.