Summary order of 5 million won fine for Yoon Geon-young and Baek Won-woo on charges of false intern registration

Yoon Geon-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly on the 28th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] A summary order imposing a fine of 5 million won was issued to Yoon Geon-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Baek Won-woo, former Blue House Civil Affairs Secretary, who are accused of falsely registering intern employees in the National Assembly office and receiving salaries.

On the 16th, Lee Seong-yong, Chief Judge of the Summary Division 3 at the Seoul Southern District Court, announced that a summary order imposing a fine of 5 million won each was issued to Yoon and Baek, who were indicted on charges of fraud. The prosecution had previously filed summary indictments against both individuals with fines of 3 million won each last month.

A summary order is a procedure that imposes fines or penalties without a trial. Those who receive a summary order may file a formal trial within one week after receiving the summary order document if they wish to appeal.

This case became controversial after Kim Ha-ni, who was in charge of accounting at the Korea Future Development Institute (Miraeyeon), first reported it. Kim alleged that "in 2011, Yoon, then the planning director of Miraeyeon, used a pseudonymous account under his name and falsely registered me as an intern employee in Baek Won-woo’s Democratic Party office, allowing me to receive a monthly salary."

In response, the civic group Legal Action for Establishing the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) filed a complaint with the prosecution against Yoon on charges including embezzlement.

Meanwhile, the prosecution decided not to indict Yoon on charges of embezzlement in the course of duty, judging that Yoon had repaid unpaid labor costs and loans at Miraeyeon and that there was no evidence to consider that he embezzled funds.

In response, Beopse-ryeon submitted an appeal to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office on the 14th, demanding reinvestigation, calling it a "lenient investigation." Subsequently, they also filed a request for a review to suspend the statute of limitations.