Supreme Court Acquits Cha Eun-taek and Jang Si-ho of Coercion Charges in 'State Affairs Manipulation' Case... "Retry the Second Trial"

Cha Eun-taek

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court overturned and remanded the original verdict, ordering a retrial of advertising director Cha Eun-taek and Jang Si-ho, the niece of Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil), who were prosecuted in the 'state affairs manipulation' case. The court acquitted them of the coercion charges they faced.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Lee Ki-taek) announced on the 6th that it overturned the part of the appellate court's ruling that found Cha, former Korea Creative Content Agency director Song Seong-gak, Jang, and former Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jong guilty of coercion charges related to allegations such as forcibly seizing shares in an advertising company and pressuring Samsung Group to make donations to the Korea Winter Sports Gifted Center, and sent the case back to the appellate court.

The Supreme Court ruled that the coercion charges among these allegations were to be acquitted. Regarding Cha, the court stated, "It is difficult to consider the acts of demanding the hiring or reassignment of specific individuals and the selection of a specific company as an advertising agency from the KT chairman and others as threats constituting coercion." For Jang, it explained, "The acts of demanding economic support for a specific sports organization from company representatives do not constitute threats under coercion charges."

Cha was prosecuted on charges of attempting to forcibly acquire shares by pressuring the CEO of an advertising company selected as the preferred negotiator when POSCO tried to sell its affiliate advertising company Foreca in 2015, though the attempt was unsuccessful. He also faces charges of having KT hire his acquaintance, selecting an advertising company established with Choi Seo-won as the advertising agency, and embezzling over 2 billion won of company funds. Both the first and second trials sentenced Cha to three years in prison.

Jang and former Deputy Minister Kim were prosecuted for conspiring with Choi to pressure Samsung Group and Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) to obtain about 1.8 billion won in donations for the Gifted Center. Jang also faces charges of embezzling 240 million won in government subsidies while operating the Gifted Center and embezzling over 300 million won of the center's funds. Jang was sentenced to two years and six months in prison in the first trial and one year and six months in the appellate trial. Former Deputy Minister Kim was sentenced to three years in prison in both trials. However, both have served their sentences or were tried while out on bail due to the expiration of detention periods.