Prosecution Indicts Yun Mi-hyang on Charges of Embezzlement, Breach of Trust, and Fraud (Update)

"'Jangryebi Myeongmok Huwon-geum' 57 million won spent from personal funds"

Yoon Mi-hyang, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is questioning Cho Myung-rae, Minister of Environment, at the Environment and Labor Committee plenary session at the National Assembly on the morning of the 20th of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Yoon Mi-hyang, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is facing allegations of breach of trust and embezzlement related to accounting irregularities at the Justice and Memory Foundation, has been indicted.

The Criminal Division 4 of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Ji-seok) announced on the 14th that Yoon was indicted without detention on seven charges including violation of the Subsidy Management Act, violation of the Act on the Collection and Use of Donations, embezzlement and breach of trust in the course of duty, and violation of the Public Hygiene Management Act. Additionally, Mr. A, an executive of the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (the predecessor of the Justice and Memory Foundation), who is accused of violating the Subsidy Management Act, the Act on the Collection and Use of Donations, breach of trust in the course of duty, and violation of the Public Hygiene Management Act, was also indicted as an accomplice.

The prosecution also judged that Yoon’s receipt of approximately 170 million won in donations into her personal account under the name of funeral expenses for Grandma Kim Bok-dong was illegal. Among these, raising 330 million won through five personal accounts and using 57.55 million won for personal purposes was regarded as embezzlement in the course of duty.

According to the prosecution, Yoon and others are accused of fraudulently registering the "War and Women's Human Rights Museum" despite not meeting the legal requirements for museum registration, such as having a curator, and then illegally receiving about 300 million won in subsidies from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. They also illegally received about 65 million won in subsidies under the name of the "Comfort Women Victims Treatment Project."

The prosecution applied charges of quasi-fraud against Yoon for conspiring with the director of the Mapo Shelter to exploit the mental and physical disabilities of a comfort women victim grandmother, causing her to donate or gift 79.2 million won to the Justice and Memory Foundation in nine installments.

They also judged illegal the purchase of the Anseong Shelter at an inflated price of 750 million won (breach of trust in the course of duty). Furthermore, charges of violating the Public Hygiene Management Act were applied for lending the Anseong Shelter to civic groups and individuals without notifying the competent authorities and collecting 9 million won in accommodation fees.

However, the prosecution dismissed charges against about 10 directors of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Jeongdaehyeop) and 22 current and former directors of the Justice and Memory Foundation, as their involvement in the crimes was not recognized. Two staff members received a suspension of indictment.

Earlier in May, Grandma Lee Yong-soo, a victim of the Japanese military 'comfort women' system, held a press conference criticizing the financial management of victim support organizations, which led to a series of complaints from civic groups against the Justice and Memory Foundation.