Former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-chun, who was indicted on charges of falsifying the time former President Park Geun-hye received reports on the day of the Sewol ferry disaster, is attending the retrial sentencing hearing at the Seoul High Court on the morning of the 16th. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Kim Ki-chun, former Chief Presidential Secretary, who was prosecuted for allegedly manipulating the time and method of the Sewol ferry disaster after the fact, was acquitted in the retrial.
On the morning of the 16th, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1-2 (Presiding Judge Eom Sangpil, Judges Shim Dam and Lee Seungryeon) overturned the first trial's sentence of one year imprisonment with two years probation for Kim, who was charged with falsifying official documents, and acquitted him.
Kim was prosecuted for submitting to the National Assembly a report that inaccurately stated whether former President Park received real-time updates during the Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, 2014, and the time of the first telephone report.
The first trial recognized Kim Ki-chun's guilt and sentenced him to one year imprisonment with two years probation. The second trial upheld the first trial's judgment, stating, "Kim Ki-chun's actions can only be seen as writing false information to avoid public criticism of the Blue House."
However, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial. In August, the Supreme Court accepted Kim Ki-chun's claim that the written response to the National Assembly member's written inquiry was not false. Furthermore, "The parts of the response expressing opinions are merely the defendant's subjective opinions and are not matters subject to factual verification," and "It cannot be considered that the defendant had the awareness of falsity when preparing the response, which was identical to the testimony given under oath as a witness at the National Assembly's special investigation committee," the court added.
On this day, the retrial court stated, "Since there is no change in the evidence, we have no choice but to follow the Supreme Court's judgment," and acquitted Kim.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
