Former Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo Appeals 6-Year Prison Sentence in Daejang-dong Bribery Case

Former Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo, who was sentenced to six years in prison in his second trial on charges of accepting campaign funds for the Korean Bar Association presidency from private developers in the Daejang-dong project, has appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.

According to the legal community, former Special Prosecutor Park submitted his appeal yesterday (the 27th) to the 15th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Lee Hee Jun, Sung Eon-ju, and Won Ik-sun).

During the appellate sentencing on the 21st, the court sentenced Park, who was indicted under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes for receiving bribes, to six years in prison, a fine of 200 million won, and an additional forfeiture of 200 million won.

Yang Jae-sik, a former assistant special prosecutor indicted along with him, was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 200 million won.

The former assistant special prosecutor filed his appeal on the day of the sentencing.

Previously, the first-instance court sentenced Park to seven years in prison, a fine of 500 million won, and a forfeiture of 150 million won, while sentencing Yang to five years in prison, a fine of 300 million won, and a forfeiture of 150 million won.

The appellate court, like the first instance, upheld the guilty verdict holding Park and Yang guilty of receiving funds disguised as campaign contributions for the Bar Association presidency from private Daejang-dong developer Nam Wook.

The court determined that private developers, including Nam, lobbied Park to have Woori Bank participate in the Daejang-dong consortium and that Park—who served as the chairman of Woori Bank's board of directors, an outside director, and a member of the audit committee at the time—had official authority capable of influencing such bank operations.

Consequently, the court concluded that there was a correlation and quid-pro-quo relationship between Park's official duties and the receipt of the campaign funds.

Yang was found guilty of conspiring in the acceptance of the money.

However, while the first trial judged that all 300 million won of the accused amount had been received, the second trial recognized only 200 million won as guilty.

The court cited inconsistencies in developer Nam's statements regarding the provision of the remaining 100 million won as the basis for this decision.

Regarding the remaining charges, including the so-called "50 billion won promise," the court ruled them either not guilty or dismissed, maintaining the same stance as the first trial.

The court's judgment was that, synthesizing the statements of the related parties, it is difficult to recognize that there was a promise to pay 5 billion won or a request to issue a letter of intent for financing, which served as a premise for such a promise.

The court also found him not guilty on charges that he received 1.1 billion won through his daughter—who worked at Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, a major shareholder controlled by private developer Kim Man-bae—after it became difficult to receive the 5 billion won promised upon his appointment as special prosecutor.

Factors influencing this decision included the fact that former Special Prosecutor Park and his daughter maintained independent livelihoods at the time, making it difficult to view them as a single economic entity.

In addition, the court dismissed charges that Park and Yang conspired to receive 200 million won and detached housing sites from private developers in exchange for lobbying to secure Woori Bank's participation in the Daejang-dong project and the exclusion of a specific securities firm from the consortium, ruling that the statute of limitations had expired, as it did in the first trial.

The so-called "50 Billion Club" scandal emerged in September 2021 when a transcript was made public containing details of a plan by Hwacheon Daeyu majority shareholder Kim Man-bae to distribute Daejang-dong development profits to six high-ranking legal and media figures.

In the transcript, Kim mentioned former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il, former Special Prosecutor Park, former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do, Money Today Media Group Chairman Hong Sun-keun, former Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam, and former Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Choi Jae-kyung, stating that each should be given "50" (5 billion won).


※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.