Former Vice Chairman Providing 'Hyang-eung' Confirmed with Suspended Sentence in Korea Federation of SMEs Chairman Election

Claim of 'Double Punishment' for Breach of Duty and Violation of the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Act
Supreme Court: "Different Crime Elements, Acts, and Protected Interests Justify Separate Punishment"

A former vice chairman who provided meals and other benefits to voters to elect Park Seong-taek, former chairman of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, has been confirmed to receive a suspended sentence.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Park Jeong-hwa) announced on the 17th that it upheld the original ruling sentencing Lee, who was indicted for violating the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Act, to 8 months in prison with a 2-year suspension.

Lee, an executive of the Korea Asphalt Concrete Industry Cooperative Federation, was prosecuted for conspiring with Park Seong-taek, then chairman of the federation, to provide hotel accommodations and meals at a Chinese restaurant to voters the day before the election to elect Park as chairman of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in February 2015, violating the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Act.

Lee was also separately tried for damages caused to the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business by using corporate credit cards to provide lodging and meals to voters, charged with breach of trust. He was found guilty and received a final judgment in the breach of trust case.

Lee, who was confirmed guilty in the breach of trust trial, raised issues during the trial for violating the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Act. The first trial court found most of the charges against the two defendants guilty and sentenced them to 8 months in prison, while the appellate court gave an 8-month prison sentence with suspension. However, Lee appealed, arguing, "I have already been confirmed guilty for providing lodging and meals to the electorate using corporate credit cards of the Gyeonggi Northern Asphalt Cooperative and others, so I should not be punished again for violating the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Act." Former chairman Park, who was also prosecuted, did not appeal.

The Supreme Court rejected Lee's claim. The court ruled, "The crime of breach of trust is a legal provision to protect property rights, while the violation of the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Act aims to prevent election fraud." It concluded that the violation of the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Act and the breach of trust differ in the elements of the crime, criminal acts, and protected legal interests, and thus can be punished separately.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.