'Embezzlement of Donations' Yoon Mi-hyang, Ultimately to the Supreme Court... Prosecution Appeals

Yoon Mi-hyang, an independent lawmaker who was sentenced to lose her seat in the appellate court for embezzling donations from the Justice Memory Solidarity (Jeonguiyeon), has expressed her intention to appeal to the Supreme Court, and the prosecution has also filed an appeal with the Supreme Court.

According to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office on the 26th, the prosecution appealed to the Supreme Court on the same day regarding the appellate court ruling on Yoon, citing legal misinterpretation as the reason. The prosecution stated, "Although a significant portion of the prosecution's reasons for appeal were accepted in the appellate court," it added, "After analyzing the appellate court's judgment, we determined that there was a legal misinterpretation regarding the Interpretation of the Act on the Collection of Donations, quasi-fraud, and breach of trust," explaining the reason for the appeal.

Rep. Yoon Mee-hyang answering reporters' questions [Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, the Criminal Division 1-3 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Ma Yong-ju, Han Chang-hoon, Kim Woo-jin) sentenced Yoon, who was indicted on charges including fraud, to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation on the 20th. Compared to the first trial court, which acquitted most charges and only recognized some charges of embezzlement in the course of duty as guilty, sentencing her to a fine of 15 million won, the sentence has significantly increased.

The first trial court recognized only 17.18 million won of the embezzled amount by Yoon, but the appellate court judged that she embezzled 80 million won, a larger amount. However, the appellate court maintained acquittal on a significant portion of the charges related to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s government subsidies and various fundraising activities. According to the National Assembly Act and the Public Official Election Act, if a sitting lawmaker is sentenced to imprisonment or higher, including probation, their seat is lost.