'Song Younggil, Who Filed Election Law Complaint Against Yoon: "Investigate Him at Least as Much as Lee Jaemyung"'

Prosecution Speeds Up Complainant Questioning
with Three Months Left Before Election Law Statute of Limitations Expires

On April 29, prosecutors investigating former President Yoon Suk-yeol for violations of the Public Official Election Act and other charges summoned Song Younggil, leader of the Sonamoo Party, for questioning as the complainant.

Yonhap News

On April 29, the Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, headed by Chief Prosecutor Cho Minwoo, summoned Song as the complainant in the case involving former President Yoon. Song, who was sentenced to prison in the first trial for allegedly receiving illegal political funds and distributing envelopes of cash during the Democratic Party convention, appeared for questioning after being transported from the Seoul Detention Center.

Song's legal representative, attorney Sun Jongmun, met with reporters and read out Song's statement, saying, "We hope that the prosecution will investigate and indict Yoon Suk-yeol, the suspect, as swiftly and thoroughly as they did with Lee Jaemyung, who was the Democratic Party's candidate in the 20th presidential election, or at least with even a fraction of that rigor."

Song filed a criminal complaint against former President Yoon in July 2023, alleging that Yoon made false explanations regarding his mother-in-law, Choi Eunsun, during the last presidential election, thereby violating the Public Official Election Act and the Political Parties Act. In December 2021, while running for president, Yoon stated in relation to Choi's forged bank balance certificate case that "she was defrauded of about 5 billion won." Choi was sentenced to one year in prison for the forgery case in the appellate court in July 2023 and was taken into custody in court. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction in November of that year.

Song also claimed that Yoon made false statements by denying allegations of stock price manipulation involving his wife, Kim Keonhee, and asserting that she had suffered losses of about 40 million won. Song further alleged that Yoon interfered in the 2023 People Power Party leadership election to ensure the victory of Kim Kihyun, a pro-Yoon lawmaker. Song claimed that Yoon influenced the process by changing the party leader selection method to a "100% party member vote" and by affecting the decision of Na Kyungwon, considered the biggest variable in the race, to not run for the position.

Meanwhile, after former President Yoon was removed from office by the Constitutional Court and lost his constitutional immunity from prosecution, the prosecution has accelerated investigations into various complaints against him. The statute of limitations for the Public Official Election Act case involving Yoon expires in August. The prosecution plans to question Kim Hanmae, head of the civic group Citizens' Action for Judicial Justice, as a complainant on May 1, and Oh Donghyun, head of the Lawyers Monitoring Prosecutors group, and Ahn Jingul, director of the People's Livelihood Economy Research Institute, as complainants on May 2, in connection with cases similar to Song's complaint against Yoon.