Noh Woong-rae, a former lawmaker of the Democratic Party, has been acquitted of bribery and illegal political funding charges. This decision comes after prosecutors announced on August 28 that they would not appeal the appellate court's ruling.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stated, "We have decided not to appeal the ruling regarding the bribery case involving former lawmaker Noh."
Prosecutors explained that they considered recent court rulings that strictly evaluate the legality of evidence obtained through voluntary submission from seized materials. They assessed that even if an appeal were filed, the likelihood of overturning the ruling was low.
A key issue in Noh's case was a recording containing the so-called 'sound of money envelopes.' Prosecutors presented this recording, obtained from the phone of Park's wife, as crucial evidence. However, the court ruled that the material was illegally obtained and therefore lacked evidentiary value.
Noh was indicted for allegedly receiving a total of 60 million won in five installments from businessman Park between February and December 2020 in exchange for facilitating permits for a logistics center and providing favors related to a power plant supply project. He faced charges of bribery and violations of political funding laws.
Prosecutors secured the phone of Park's wife during the investigation into a separate case involving Lee Jeong-geun, the former deputy secretary-general of the Democratic Party, and subsequently identified allegations against Noh.
Following this, prosecutors obtained the phone from Park's wife and based on recordings of conversations between Noh and her, they indicted Noh without detention in March 2023.
At the time, then-Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, now an independent lawmaker, referenced the recording before a vote on Noh's arrest, claiming, "The sound of money envelopes is recorded as well."
However, the first trial court raised concerns about the phone being obtained during the investigation of another crime and used as evidence without proper procedures. The court deemed this 'illegally obtained evidence' and acquitted Noh.
The first trial court noted, "The violation of procedures by the investigative agency in obtaining evidence contravenes the warrant principle and due process, and the severity of this violation is not trivial."
The appellate court reached a similar conclusion. On August 21, the Seoul High Court ruled the recording as illegally obtained evidence and acquitted Noh. While it acknowledged errors in the first trial's exclusion of electronic information from the phone, it concluded that there was still insufficient evidence to prove the charges.
President Lee Jae-myung commented on social media shortly after the appellate ruling, stating, "How can anyone imagine how unfair former lawmaker Noh, who was prosecuted by a political prosecution and stripped of his political life by the party, must have felt?"
* This article has been translated by AI.
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