The Supreme Court has confirmed the acquittal of Lee Sang-jik, a former lawmaker, in connection with the Eastar Jet hiring scandal. The court acknowledged suspicions of improper requests during the hiring process but concluded that Lee did not exert sufficient influence to coerce the HR personnel's free will. Additionally, the court found no evidence of Lee's involvement in bribery related to the hiring of children of former Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport employees.
On June 25, the Supreme Court's first division, led by Justice Cheon Dae-yeop, upheld the lower court's ruling that acquitted Lee of obstruction of business and bribery charges. Kim Yoo-sang, the former CEO of Eastar Jet, was also acquitted.
Choi Jong-gu, another former CEO of Eastar Jet, was fined 10 million won for obstruction of business. A former Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport employee, identified as Jeong, received a suspended sentence of six months in prison for soliciting the hiring of his child and providing operational conveniences to Eastar Jet.
The Supreme Court determined that the lower court did not violate logical reasoning or misinterpret the legal principles regarding obstruction of business and bribery. The court found no errors in the judgment regarding the nature of coercion or the establishment of joint criminal responsibility.
Lee, Choi, and Kim were charged with exerting pressure on HR personnel to ensure the acceptance of 147 applicants who were solicited between November 2015 and March 2019 during Eastar Jet's regular hiring process. Of these, 76 were ultimately confirmed as successful candidates.
Prosecutors alleged that they pressured HR personnel to pass applicants who did not meet the minimum criteria, including those who failed to submit applications or lacked the required language test scores, at various stages of the hiring process.
Lee and others were also accused of hiring Jeong's child as a regular employee of Eastar Jet in exchange for conveniences related to slot allocations for aircraft takeoff and landing times. Jeong's daughter had initially failed the document screening twice due to insufficient language test scores but was later accepted after a re-evaluation.
In the first trial, Lee was found guilty of obstruction of business and bribery, receiving a sentence of one year and six months for each charge. Choi received a suspended sentence, while Kim was sentenced to ten months in prison with a two-year suspension. Jeong was convicted of bribery and sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year suspension.
However, the appellate court's ruling differed. It acquitted Lee and Kim, stating that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Lee directly instructed HR personnel regarding hiring matters or threatened them with adverse consequences for non-compliance. The court also noted that merely feeling pressured did not constitute coercion under the obstruction of business law. No evidence was found of manipulation of evaluation scores or rankings.
The appellate court also ruled that there was no proof that Lee directed or was informed about the hiring of Jeong's child. Consequently, only Choi's limited involvement in the hiring was acknowledged, while Lee's collusion was not recognized.
Nonetheless, the court found that Choi had exerted some influence during the hiring process of specific applicants, leading to a guilty verdict for obstruction of business. His sentence was reduced from a suspended prison term to a fine of 10 million won.
Jeong was found guilty of accepting bribes, acknowledging that the hiring of his child had a bribery nature. However, his sentence was reduced to six months in prison with a one-year suspension, which was upheld by the Supreme Court.
Separately, Lee is currently serving a six-year prison sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court in April 2023 for embezzlement and breach of trust involving Eastar Jet. In April of this year, he received an additional two-year sentence for breaching trust during the establishment of Thai Eastar Jet, causing financial harm to Eastar Jet.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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