[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Former Minister of Environment Kim Eun-kyung, who was sentenced to prison in both the first and second trials in the 'Ministry of Environment Blacklist' case, will receive the final verdict at the Supreme Court on the 27th.
The Supreme Court's Third Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheol-sang) will hold the sentencing hearing in the appeal trial of former Minister Kim and former Blue House Balanced Personnel Secretary Shin Mi-sook, who are accused of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights, on the morning of the same day.
The two were prosecuted on charges of forcing executives of public institutions under the Ministry of Environment, appointed during the Park Geun-hye administration in 2017-2018, to resign and then placing individuals selected by the Blue House or the Ministry of Environment in the vacant successor positions.
This case came to light when former prosecutor investigator Kim Tae-woo, who worked in the Blue House special inspection team under the Moon Jae-in administration and was dismissed from public office due to allegations of misconduct, exposed various suspicions related to the special inspection team at the end of 2018.
After the allegations were raised, it was revealed that the Ministry of Environment prepared a document titled 'Trends Related to the Resignation of Executives of Institutions Affiliated with the Ministry of Environment' in January 2018 and reported it to the Blue House Office of Civil Affairs, and the contents of the document were disclosed to the National Assembly, intensifying the controversy.
The first trial sentenced former Minister Kim to 2 years and 6 months in prison and ordered her detention in court. Former Secretary Shin was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation. The second trial reduced former Minister Kim's sentence to 2 years in prison, ruling that since some of the public institution executives' terms had expired at the time, even if the Ministry of Environment accepted their resignations and began successor appointments, it could not be considered abuse of authority. Former Secretary Shin's sentence was also reduced to 1 year in prison with a 3-year probation.
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