Former Vice Minister Kim Hak-ui Acquitted and Case Dismissed After 9 Years on Charges of Bribery and Sexual Bribery

Former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The acquittal of former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, who was indicted on charges of receiving bribes including money and sexual favors from construction businessman Yoon Joong-chun and other construction businessman Choi Mo, has been finalized.

This comes nine years after the so-called 'villa sexual favor video' was reported in the media in March 2013.

On the 11th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Cheon Dae-yeop) upheld the lower court's ruling (remand trial) that acquitted former Vice Minister Kim of the charge of receiving about 43 million won in bribes from Choi in the final appeal trial on charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

The court stated, "The lower court's judgment of acquittal or dismissal of this part of the indictment after remand was in accordance with the intent of the remand ruling and is justifiable. There is no error in the lower court's judgment that violates the rules of logic and experience, exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misinterprets the legal principles regarding the quid pro quo and intent in the crime of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes related to solicitation."

Former Vice Minister Kim was arrested and indicted in June 2019 on charges of receiving bribes worth about 31 million won and multiple sexual favors of unquantifiable value from Yoon from around summer 2006 to April 2012, and for having a debt of 100 million won owed by A, who was continuously provided sexual opportunities through Yoon's introduction, forgiven (third-party bribery).

The indictment against Kim also included charges of receiving about 51 million won in cash and payments for a mobile phone under a false name from Choi, who acted as a sponsor from October 2000 to May 2011, and receiving 155 million won in bribes from a certain savings bank president from June 2000 to December 2009.

The first trial court dismissed the charges related to sexual favors and some bribery charges against Kim due to the expiration of the 10-year statute of limitations and acquitted him of the remaining bribery charges due to lack of evidence.

On the other hand, the second trial court found Kim guilty of receiving about 43 million won in bribes from Choi, sentenced him to 2 years and 6 months in prison, fined him 5 million won, and ordered confiscation of the equivalent amount of bribes received.

However, this second trial ruling was overturned again by the Supreme Court.

In June last year, the Supreme Court overturned the guilty verdict in the second trial and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court.

At that time, the credibility of Choi's testimony in court, which was the decisive basis for the guilty verdict, became a key issue.

The prosecution had summoned Choi, who was a witness before the first and second trials of former Vice Minister Kim, for a pre-interview, but the court accepted Kim's side's claim that Choi's testimony might have been contaminated.

The court pointed out the following reasons: ▲ Choi did not go through formal entry procedures during the pre-interview, so there is no record of his entry at the prosecution office ▲ The prosecution could not specify the timing and number of Choi's pre-interviews accurately ▲ No objective data was submitted regarding how long and by what method each witness pre-interview was conducted ▲ During the pre-interview, the prosecution showed Choi his prosecution statement and first trial court testimony ▲ Choi even asked the prosecutor what to testify in court during the pre-interview ▲ Immediately after the pre-interview, Choi reversed his previous statements related to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office case and the false-name mobile phone during the witness examination ▲ While it is normal for human memory of experienced facts to fade over time, Choi's testimony became more detailed instead.

Based on these reasons, the court judged that it is difficult to exclude the possibility that Choi changed his previous statements to align with the indictment under the influence of coercion, pressure, inducement, or suggestion by the investigative agency during the process of being summoned and interviewed by the prosecution before testifying in court.

Ultimately, the court concluded, "It is difficult to say that the prosecution clearly proved that there was no coercion or pressure on the witness," and found it hard to acknowledge the credibility of Choi's testimony in court.

After the case was returned, the Seoul High Court, excluding the charges for which acquittal was finalized after the Supreme Court dismissed the prosecution's appeal, re-examined only the bribery charge of about 43 million won that Kim received from Choi in the form of credit card payments, false-name mobile phone bills, and alcohol expenses, and acquitted him in January.