Members of the People Power Party gathered at the party headquarters (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Park Dong-ju = Song Eon-seok, interim leader and floor leader of the People Power Party, is stating his position regarding the search and seizure of the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 13th. 2025.8.13 pdj6635@yna.co.kr

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Chi-yeon and Roh Sun-woong = The People Power Party on the 13th protested the special prosecutor's attempt to secure the party's membership roster through a search and seizure of its headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, asking, "Why are you trying to raid the central party headquarters' membership roster, which is not even a crime?"

Song, the interim leader, visited the party headquarters in Yeouido that day, checked the progress of the search and seizure, and told reporters, "They asked us to extract a list of individuals who might be our party members from a list of members of a certain religious group claimed by the special prosecutor's office, and we received a list of 20 people and compared it with our membership roster. It turned out that not a single person on the list was a member of our party."

This means that after checking the party membership status of the 20 individuals for whom the special prosecutor's office requested comparison, none of them had a history of joining the party.

He emphasized, "The membership roster is the alpha and omega of a party. It is like the lifeblood of our political party. We can neither understand nor agree to any illegal and outrageous search and seizure attempt by the special prosecutor's office, and we will protect our membership roster until the end."

Jeong Jung-sik, the chief of staff, said, "The alleged crimes stated in the search and seizure warrant are violations of the Political Funds Act and bribery, but does a specific person's party membership constitute a bribe under the Political Funds Act and bribery?" He added, "Even if a specific citizen joins our party, it cannot be considered a bribe."

He then expressed doubt, asking, "Can a search and seizure warrant be requested and issued when the fundamental principle of criminal procedure, which requires relevance to the crime, is disregarded?"

The party's Special Committee for the Defense of Judicial Justice and Prevention of Dictatorship issued a statement saying, "The special prosecutor's idea of comparing the list of members of a specific religious group with our party's membership roster is an unprecedented attempt that tramples on both party democracy and freedom of religion," and added, "We also express serious concern to the court that issued such an unconstitutional warrant."

The special committee stressed, "In a situation where the Democratic Party leader continuously mentions the dissolution of the People Power Party, the special prosecutor's search and seizure can only be seen as a political maneuver executed in sync with those remarks," and "Furthermore, the very idea of attempting to invade personal information and pour cold water on the party members' festival during the party convention is deplorable."

The special prosecutor's team has been attempting a search and seizure by dispatching investigators to the People Power Party's central headquarters in Yeouido since that morning.

This search and seizure attempt is interpreted as an effort to secure the People Power Party's membership roster, compare it with the list of Tongil Group followers, and verify the allegations of collusion involving People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong and others related to the Tongil Group and Geonjin Beopsa's petition.

The allegation is that Geonjin Beopsa Jeon Seong-bae and a key executive of the Tongil Group, identified as Mr. Yoon, attempted to recruit Tongil Group followers as party members in March 2023 to push Rep. Kwon as the party leader in the People Power Party's leadership election.

Party leadership candidates also visited the party headquarters in Yeouido after concluding their joint campaign speech on the same day to protest the special prosecutor's search and seizure.

Candidate Kim Moon-soo criticized, "The prosecution's goal is the protection of human rights, but the special prosecutor is merely a henchman of Lee Jae-myung," while candidate Jang Dong-hyuk claimed, "The madness of the political special prosecutor has gone too far."

Candidate Ahn Cheol-soo stated, "Given that the party convention is underway, there is a clear political intention behind this sudden search and seizure," and candidate Cho Kyung-tae speculated, "I suspect it is being used as a tactic to shift the public mood, as the public opinion on the special pardons for Cho Kuk and Yoon Mi-hyang has severely worsened."

chic@yna.co.kr

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