Former Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo, who was charged with accepting large sums of money from private developers involved in the Daejang-dong project, received a reduced sentence of six years in prison during his appeal.
The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 15-2, consisting of judges Lee Hee-jun, Sung Eon-joo, and Won Ik-seon, sentenced Park to six years in prison, a fine of 200 million won, and a confiscation order of 200 million won. This is a reduction from the initial sentence of seven years in prison, a fine of 500 million won, and a confiscation order of 150 million won.
Yang Jae-sik, a former special prosecutor who was co-defendant in the case, received a five-year prison sentence and a fine of 200 million won.
The court upheld the first instance's ruling that Park and Yang were guilty of accepting money from lawyer Nam Wook under the pretext of funding for the Korean Bar Association presidential election in 2014.
The court found that Park, who was then the chairman of the board of Woori Bank, had received requests from private developers for participation in a consortium and had the authority to influence bank operations. Yang was also found guilty of conspiring to accept the bribes.
However, the appellate court only recognized 200 million won of the 300 million won in election funds as guilty, citing inconsistencies in Nam's testimony regarding the 100 million won received in two installments of 50 million won each in November 2014. The court maintained the guilty verdict only for the 200 million won delivered in December of that year.
Conversely, all other key charges against Park were dismissed or found not guilty, consistent with the first instance ruling. The court dismissed allegations that Park and Yang received promises of 200 billion won in benefits and land for single-family homes from private developers, citing the expiration of the statute of limitations.
The judges acknowledged that discussions about providing economic benefits occurred between the defendants and private developers, and that the figure of 200 billion won was mentioned. However, they concluded that there was no clear agreement on the promised benefits.
The court also ruled that Park was not guilty of receiving 50 million won from Kim Man-bae in exchange for a request to issue a loan intention letter from Woori Bank, stating that he had already stepped down from his position at the bank at that time, thus negating the charge under the Specific Economic Crimes Act. Additionally, the court found no clear agreement regarding the promise of the 50 billion won or the loan intention letter request based on the testimonies of related parties.
Park was also acquitted of charges related to receiving 110 million won through his daughter, who worked at Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, as a loan after it became difficult to receive the promised 50 billion won. The court noted that at that time, Park and his daughter maintained independent livelihoods, making it unreasonable to consider them as a single economic entity, and it could not be concluded that the money received by his daughter was a gift.
Regarding sentencing, the court emphasized that employees of financial institutions have a public duty and that their actions significantly impact the national economy. They criticized Park for committing the crime despite being aware of this responsibility from his long tenure as a prosecutor, which severely undermined public trust in the integrity of his position.
However, the court decided not to revoke bail for both defendants, considering their ages, relationships with witnesses, and the status of their detention.
After the ruling, Park briefly told reporters, "That's enough," before leaving the courthouse.
Meanwhile, among those involved in the '50 Billion Club,' former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il is set to face his first appeal trial next month after a lower court dismissed charges of violating the Attorney-at-Law Act. Hong Seon-keun, chairman of Money Today, was fined 15 million won in his appeal, while former Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam and former Presidential Chief of Staff Choi Jae-gyeong were recently not prosecuted.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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