Broadcast personality Yang Kyung-sook, who previously served as the head of programming at Internet radio station Radio 21, has been sentenced to five years in prison for investment fraud amounting to approximately 3.3 billion won (about $2.5 million).
According to legal sources on September 2, the Supreme Court's first division, led by Justice Seo Kyung-hwan, upheld the lower court's five-year sentence for Yang, who was charged with violating the Specific Economic Crimes Act (fraud).
Yang was indicted for deceiving seven victims between December 2020 and March 2022 by promising guaranteed profits from the sale of North Korea's Daedonggang beer. This scheme, referred to as the 'Jangmadang Project,' involved using the sales revenue to purchase masks for North Korean compatriots.
She assured investors that she had received approval from the Ministry of Unification and promised a profit margin and minimum returns for each mask sold. However, the business was found to be non-existent, and the investment funds were used for debt repayment, credit card bills, and cryptocurrency purchases. Yang fled abroad when the investigation began but was later apprehended in China as an illegal resident.
In November of last year, the first trial sentenced Yang to six years in prison. The court noted that she had a history of two previous convictions for fraud and had continued to flaunt her connections with political and media figures, indicating a high likelihood of reoffending.
In February of this year, the appellate court reduced her sentence to five years, taking into account that Yang had reached a settlement with some of the victims.
Despite the appellate ruling, Yang filed an appeal, but the Supreme Court rejected it, affirming the lower court's decision.
Additionally, Yang was previously convicted in 2013 for receiving large sums of money as campaign contributions from proportional representation candidates of the Democratic United Party, resulting in a three-year prison sentence. In 2015, she was also sentenced to two years in prison for a separate forgery case.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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