Not Guilty of Distributing Cash Envelopes at the Party Convention
Park Yong-su (55), a former aide to Song Young-gil, leader of the Sonamu Party (former Democratic Party leader), who was indicted on charges including bribery and illegal political funding during the Democratic Party convention, was sentenced to 1 year and 2 months in prison and was detained in court in the first trial.
On the 14th, the Criminal Division 21 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Heo Kyung-moo) sentenced Park to 8 months in prison for paying public opinion survey costs and 6 months in prison for instructing concealment of criminal proceeds and destruction of evidence, on charges of violating the Political Parties Act and Political Funds Act. The court also ordered a confiscation of 92.4 million won.
On that day, the court recognized Park's guilt for paying public opinion survey costs with funds from 'Peace and Livelihood Issues Research Institute' (Meoksa-yeon), an external organization of Leader Song, and attempting to destroy related evidence. However, Park was acquitted of the charge of distributing cash envelopes at the party convention. This was because the court did not admit the evidentiary value of one of the key pieces of evidence, the 'Lee Jeong-geun recording file.'
Park was indicted in July 2023 on charges of conspiring with Kang Rae-gu, former Standing Auditor of Korea Water Resources Corporation, and Lee Jeong-geun, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, to distribute a total of 67.5 million won in May 2021 to ensure Leader Song's election at the Democratic Party convention. Park is also accused of receiving 50 million won from businessman Kim in April of the same year as funds for the primary campaign. Additionally, he is charged with providing 60 million won in two installments to Yoon Kwan-seok, then a Democratic Party lawmaker, under the name of parliamentary grants, 500,000 won to Lee, a Seoul regional situation room chief, as election campaign activity expenses, and 7 million won to Park, another Seoul regional situation room chief, as funds for operating a call center for telephone election campaigning. Furthermore, Park is accused of instructing the secretary-general of Meoksa-yeon to replace all computer hard disks.
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