Prosecutors have indicted Rep. Youn Kwan-suk for his alleged role in political fund illegalities ahead of the main opposition Democratic Party's(DP) leadership election in 2021.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday indicted the DP-turned-independent lawmaker on charges of violating the law on political parties. 

Youn is accused of distributing cash envelopes totaling some 60 million won, or 45-thousand U.S. dollars, to 20 DP lawmakers to elect Song Young-gil as party chief at the 2021 party convention. 

Prosecutors are said to have identified the lawmakers who presumably received the money from Youn and are questioning them. 

The prosecution had requested pretrial detention warrants for Youn and another DP-turned-independent lawmaker Lee Sung-man in May, but they were automatically dismissed after the National Assembly voted against a motion authorizing their arrests on June 12.

Prosecutors applied for warrants again in August when parliament was out of session. A Seoul court issued a warrant for Youn on August 4, citing the lawmaker may destroy evidence, but not for Lee.