[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Jo Yang-eun (71), the boss of the nationwide violent organization 'Yang Eun faction,' and Lee Mo (56), who was arrested after 8 years for assaulting a Korean resident in the Philippines, denied all charges at their first trial.
According to the legal community on the 6th, at the first hearing held yesterday under the presiding judge Yang Eun-sang of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 18, the defense stated, "We deny all charges." Lee strongly denied the allegations, claiming he did not know the victim's side and was not at the scene of the incident. Accordingly, the court decided to summon four related parties, including the victim So Mo, on June 21 to conduct witness examinations.
Previously, Lee was charged with special injury for threatening So with a pistol and burning his body with a cigarette lighter for about three hours near a hotel in the Philippines in 2013, accusing him of "not repaying money." Lee had stayed abroad continuously after the incident but returned early this year as the COVID-19 situation worsened, and was arrested by police in Jeju Island immediately after completing self-quarantine on February 13.
Meanwhile, Jo was indicted on the same charges and sentenced to three years in prison in the first trial, but the verdict was overturned to not guilty in the second trial due to "insufficient evidence." This was because the victim's side did not attend the appeal trial. Subsequently, in 2016, the prosecution appealed to the Supreme Court, but no conclusion has been reached on the case even after six years, including this year.
However, recently, with the arrest of the key accomplice Lee and the police securing additional statements from So's side that "Jo's inducement prevented attendance in court," there is a prospect that depending on Lee's trial and others, the Supreme Court may overturn Jo's original verdict and send the case back to the second trial in the form of a remand retrial, thereby resuming the trial.
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