The ruling Democratic Party of Korea and opposition People Power Party clashed over prosecutors' decision to abandon their appeal in the cash envelope case involving former Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil.
The People Power Party attacked the decision as "blatant mockery of judicial procedures," while the Democratic Party countered, asking whether the opposition "has any right to speak of rule of law."
People Power Party spokesperson Ham In-kyung said in a statement on the 21st, "Following the abandonment of appeals in the Daejang-dong case, the West Sea official shooting case, and the Wirye development corruption case, this is yet another dropped appeal."
"The direction is too consistent to be considered individual case judgments, and the outcomes invariably favor the ruling party," Ham claimed.
"What's more serious is that even before the decision to drop the appeal, there were discussions within the ruling camp about Song's return to Gyeyang district and scenarios of political reward," Ham added. "Designing the next political move before the trial even concludes is blatant mockery of judicial procedures."
Ham also stated, "Kim Yong, former vice director of the Democratic Research Institute and close associate of President Lee Jae-myung, was sentenced to five years in prison and a large forfeiture in the second trial, yet held a book launch event while on bail and began preparing his candidacy. The rule of law in the Republic of Korea is collapsing."
People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won criticized on her social media, "Despite substantial evidence including Lee Jung-geun's recorded conversations, numerous testimonies, and account records, not even filing an appeal constitutes clear dereliction of duty by prosecutors."
Na added, "After Song Young-gil's acquittal in the second trial, President Lee Jae-myung reportedly made a congratulatory call. Then followed the prosecutors' decision to drop the appeal. When the person with authority over prosecutorial personnel makes a congratulatory call in advance, the prosecutors below have already received their answer on what to do."
Democratic Party senior deputy spokesperson Kim Min-ju countered in a written briefing, "Does the People Power Party, which committed unconstitutional and illegal acts of insurrection that shook the constitutional order, defended insurrection ringleader Yoon Suk-yeol who was sentenced to life imprisonment, and declared itself complicit—have any right to speak of rule of law?"
Kim assessed the prosecutors' reason for dropping the appeal as "a legal decision that comprehensively considered the trend of Supreme Court precedents and the appellate court's judgment."
Kim added, "After People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk's declaration of 'Yoon Again Party,' they were cornered by fierce criticism from inside and outside the party, so they resorted to muddying the waters for political diversion. Speaking of rule of law while defending insurrection is self-contradiction."
Earlier, prosecutors abandoned their appeal against former leader Song Young-gil, who was acquitted in the second trial on charges of receiving illegal political funds during the 2021 Democratic Party convention.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office explained the reason for dropping the appeal: "We considered factors including the Supreme Court's stricter judgment on the admissibility of seized evidence, as demonstrated on the 12th of this month when the court dismissed the prosecution's appeal in the case of former lawmaker Lee Sung-man related to the party leader election."
On the 12th, the Supreme Court also acquitted former lawmaker Lee, who was indicted on charges including receiving an envelope containing 3 million won from former Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok at a gathering supporting Song.