Former Kukkiwon Secretary-General Sentenced to Suspended Prison Term for 'Unlawful Severance Pay Receipt' Charges

Supreme Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The suspended prison sentence for former Kukkiwon Secretary-General Oh Daeyoung, who was prosecuted for unfairly receiving retirement benefits worth hundreds of millions of won, has been finalized.

On the 24th, the Supreme Court Division 1 (Presiding Justice Park Junghwa) announced that it upheld the original sentence of 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation for Oh, who was indicted on charges of breach of trust in the course of duty.

Previously, in 2018, Oh was prosecuted for colluding with then Kukkiwon President Oh Hyundeuk to improperly receive approximately 215 million won in retirement benefits despite not being eligible for honorary retirement. During this process, they were found to have amended guidelines against personnel regulations by changing the length of service to 10 years and removing disqualifications.

Oh’s defense argued in court that "the defendant is not the person responsible for handling the work subject to breach of trust regarding the payment of honorary retirement allowances." He claimed that he only followed the instructions of the former Kukkiwon President Oh and had no intention to participate as an accomplice.

The first trial court pointed out, "The defendant had a duty to manage the organization's budget to be properly executed according to regulations," adding, "This also applies to the payment of his own honorary retirement allowance." The court sentenced former President Oh to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation. Although former Secretary-General Oh appealed, the second trial court rejected it.

The Supreme Court also agreed with this judgment. The court stated, "The lower court did not err in its understanding of the law regarding a person handling another’s affairs in breach of trust and the relationship of the accused," and dismissed the appeal.

Meanwhile, former Kukkiwon President Oh, who was prosecuted together, had his sentence of 2 years in prison with a 3-year probation upheld in the second trial.