PPP to Special Prosecutor: "First Uncover Shincheonji’s Alleged Involvement in Democratic Party Convention"

20-Day Warrant Period...
"Attempt to Raid Party Headquarters Expected"
"If Forced, Lawmakers and Members Will Unite to Block It"

The People Power Party pushed back against Min Junggi's special prosecutor team, which is investigating allegations related to First Lady Kim Keonhee, stating, "Start by uncovering the truth behind the suspicion raised by Kim Eo-jun regarding Shincheonji’s alleged involvement in the Democratic Party’s national convention."

At a press briefing held at the Central Party Office in Yeouido, Seoul, Song Eonseok, Emergency Response Committee Chairman, said, "Today marks the end of the unjust political oppression and retaliatory investigation period by Special Prosecutor Min Junggi. We expect the special prosecutor to attempt another raid on our party headquarters today," making these remarks.

Song Eonseok, Emergency Response Committee Chairman and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at a press briefing on current issues held at the Central Party Office in Yeouido, Seoul on August 20, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

He criticized, "The search and seizure attempt by Special Prosecutor Min Junggi is a 100% unconstitutional and illegal act, even contrary to the warrant issued by the court," and added, "Following the Democratic Party’s attempt to censor KakaoTalk, the special prosecutor’s scrutiny of our party members is Lee Jaemyung-style Big Brother politics, aiming to monitor the political activities and daily lives of the public."

Chairman Song pointed out, "The warrant presented to our party by the special prosecutor specifically states that the search and seizure target is to compare the party member list related to the alleged crime in question," and "Among the five alleged crimes listed in the warrant, not a single one is directly related to whether someone joined the People Power Party."

He continued, "It is said that the total number of KCTU (Korean Confederation of Trade Unions) members is 1.2 million. If the special prosecutor were to bring the entire list of 1.2 million KCTU members to the Democratic Party to check whether they joined the party and to investigate their involvement in the national convention, would the Democratic Party accept that?" he asked rhetorically.

In particular, Chairman Song emphasized that he informed the special prosecutor that the party could verify membership status for lists directly related to the alleged crime, but the special prosecutor insisted on a full comparison. He said, "The special prosecutor brought a list of 1.2 million people allegedly affiliated with a specific religion and said they would compare it with the entire party member list," and added, "How can we accept verifying the party membership status of a number of people equivalent to the population of Daejeon, who have nothing to do with the alleged crime? This is an absurd, totalitarian idea."

He also claimed, "During discussions with the special prosecutor, we asked which of the crimes listed in the warrant were related to the search and seizure of the party member list, but even the investigators could not specify any concrete alleged crime," and argued, "Trying to seize the personal information of as many as five million party members without proving relevance to the alleged crime is clearly an excessive, unconstitutional investigation beyond the law."

Jeong Jeomsik, Secretary-General of the People Power Party, also stated, "The items to be seized in the search and seizure warrant are described as party member lists related to the alleged crime in question, but the crimes listed in the warrant are violations of the Political Funds Act and bribery. Nowhere in the warrant is there any mention of members of a specific religious group joining our party," and added, "What relevance could Gunjin Bopsa’s bribery case have to members of a specific religious group joining our party?"