Court: "Member of National Assembly Betrayed Duty of Integrity... The Crime Is Not Light"
Ambition for 6th Term Faces 'Red Light'... Loss of Assembly Seat if Sentence Confirmed
Won Yu-cheol, member of the Liberty Korea Party.
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Won Yoo-chul, a member of the Liberty Korea Party who was tried on charges of receiving bribes in exchange for favors from local constituency companies, was sentenced to a fine of 900,000 KRW and 10 months imprisonment in the first trial. If the sentence received on this day is finalized, Representative Won will lose his seat.
The Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 11 (Chief Judge Lee Hwan-seung) held a sentencing hearing at 10 a.m. on the 14th for Representative Won, who was indicted without detention on charges of violating the Political Funds Act and bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
On this day, the court sentenced Representative Won to a fine of 900,000 KRW for the violation of the Political Funds Act according to the separation provisions under the Public Official Election Act, and 10 months imprisonment for the charges of receiving bribes and illegal political fund expenditures. The remaining charges were acquitted.
The court stated the reason for the sentence, saying, "The fact that a member of the National Assembly has violated the duty of integrity cannot be considered a minor offense," and "Although the defendant did not actively claim to have committed the crime, he illegally received political funds while being aware, at least implicitly, that donations were made under other people's names."
However, considering that the National Assembly is currently in session, the court did not detain Representative Won, who is an incumbent lawmaker, in custody.
Representative Won was indicted without detention on charges of bribery and receiving bribes under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, violation of the Political Funds Act, and violation of the Public Official Election Act. He is accused of receiving approximately 180 million KRW from four local companies in Pyeongtaek from 2011, in collusion with aides, in exchange for facilitating the resolution of civil complaints. He is also charged with receiving illegal political funds amounting to 53 million KRW and misusing 65 million KRW in political funds from March 2012 to 2017.
Additionally, he was charged with violating the Public Official Election Act by receiving 50 million KRW under the pretext of loans from the Korea Development Bank for a specific company and paying 10 million KRW in legal fees for former aide Kwon in March 2017. Previously, the prosecution requested the court to sentence him to one year imprisonment and a fine of 230 million KRW for violating the Political Funds Act, and seven years imprisonment and a fine of 260 million KRW for bribery and receiving bribes.
This ruling has put Representative Won's political career, which was aiming for a sixth trial, in jeopardy. In the case of violating the Political Funds Act, if a fine of 1 million KRW or more is finalized, the lawmaker loses their seat. For general criminal cases, imprisonment without labor or heavier sentences are the criteria.
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