An ex-aide to former main opposition Democratic Party(DP) chair Song Young-gil suspected of managing funds for Song’s leadership campaign ahead of the 2021 party convention appeared for a pretrial detention warrant hearing.

Arriving at the Seoul Central District Court on Monday, Park Yong-soo kept mum as he was asked about admitting to the charges of violating the political party law.

Park is accused of colluding with Kang Rae-gu, a former standing auditor of the Korea Water Resources Corporation, and others to deliver over 60 million won, or over 45-thousand U.S. dollars, to sitting lawmakers to secure Song's leadership victory ahead of the 2021 convention.

The ex-aide was found to have received 50 million won from a businessman, identified by the surname Kim, before delivering 60 million won to DP-turned-independent Rep. Youn Kwan-suk.

Park also allegedly provided seven-point-five million won in total to higher-ups of regional campaign offices as operating fees, and ordered the destruction of evidence regarding the provision of 92 million won for opinion polling by a group suspected of being Song's external sponsor.

The court is expected to decide whether to detain him throughout his trial as early as Monday afternoon.