Kang Rae-gu Arrested for Allegedly Distributing Envelopes of Cash to Democratic Party Members

Kang Rae-gu, chairman of the Institute of Internal Auditors Korea, a key figure in the alleged distribution of cash envelopes (illegal political funds) during the Democratic Party of Korea convention, heads to the courtroom at the Seoul Central District Court for his second arrest warrant review (suspect questioning prior to his arrest) on May 8. Seong Dong-hoon

Kang Rae-gu, the chairman of the Institute of Internal Auditors Korea and a key figure involved in the envelopes of cash (illegal political funds) which were allegedly distributed at the time of the Democratic Party of Korea convention, was arrested on May 8. The court, which had dismissed the first request for an arrest warrant, issued the warrant this time. Now that the prosecutors have Kang in custody, their investigation into the people behind Kang, such as former party leader Song Young-gil, is expected to gain speed.

Chief Judge Yu Chang-hun, who oversees warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, issued the arrest warrant acknowledging “the risk of destroying evidence” after questioning Kang, the suspect, prior to the arrest (arrest warrant review) on Monday. This was the first time that a suspect was arrested in connection with the alleged cash envelopes in the Democratic Party.

Kang is suspected of instructing and encouraging related people to give campaign staff and voters 94 million won and personally providing the money (violation of the Political Parties Act) in order to get Song elected as party leader in the Democratic Party of Korea elections in March-May 2021. Prosecutors also believe Kang received three million won (bribery) for solicitation of a supply contract for solar energy equipment from Bak, a businessman, in September 2020, when Kang served as an executive at the Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water).

The prosecutors had requested an arrest warrant for Kang on April 19, but the court denied the request claiming there was no grounds for the arrest at that stage. The prosecutors reapplied for the warrant on May 4, claiming “After additional investigations, we confirmed circumstances suggesting that a number of accomplices tried to destroy evidence in an organized manner.” The prosecutors conducted a search and seizure of Pyeonghwawa Meokgosaneun Munje Institute (institute on peace and issues on earning a living), an organization linked to Song, and discovered that computer hard drives had been formatted or replaced. Kang said, “I will explain to the judge” as he entered the court for his warrant review Monday. But this time the court sided with the prosecutors and acknowledged the risk of his destroying evidence.

The prosecutors are expected to focus their questions on Kang to see if the distribution of the cash envelopes was reported to Song and whether he made any approval or instruction in connection with the envelopes during the next twenty days, the maximum detention period. Song voluntarily appeared before the prosecutors on May 2, but the prosecutors refused to question him. The prosecutors are expected to call in Democratic Party lawmakers Youn Kwan-suk and Lee Sung-man as suspects soon and question them. Most of the people involved in the incident have denied the allegations, and experts argue that the investigation will not be easy, since the money was given out in the form of cash, difficult to trace.