Kimchi Company CEO Convicted of Wage Theft and Abuse of Intellectually Disabled Workers for 16 Years... Supreme Court Confirms 3-Year Prison Sentence

The owner who exploited the wages of intellectually disabled individuals and even committed assault for over 16 years has been sentenced to prison.

On the 28th, according to the legal community, the Supreme Court Division 1 (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) upheld the original ruling sentencing Park Mo (71), the CEO of a kimchi manufacturing company, to three years in prison and imposed a five-year employment ban at disability-related institutions in the final appeal for charges including violation of the Labor Standards Act, quasi-fraud, violation of the Retirement Benefits Security Act, and violation of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities.

Supreme Court, Seocho-dong, Seoul.

The court stated the reason for dismissing the appeal was that "there was no error in the original judgment regarding the violation of the rules of logic and experience as claimed in the grounds for appeal, no exceeding the limits of free evaluation of evidence, no misunderstanding of the legal principles concerning the relationship between quasi-fraud and violation of the Labor Standards Act, intent in the violation of the Retirement Benefits Security Act, and the law on offenses requiring victim's consent."

Park is accused of having A (68), an intellectually disabled person, carry out tasks such as transporting cabbage and cleaning at his kimchi factory in Okcheon-gun, Chungbuk, and his company in Yeongdong, Chungbuk, from March 2005 to September 2021, without paying wages amounting to over 210 million won.

Park, the CEO of the kimchi manufacturing company, began operating the factory after acquiring another company in March 2005. It is known that he exploited A, who was working at the acquired company and had an intellectual disability, knowing that A could not properly exercise his right to claim wages.

Park also failed to pay A approximately 29 million won in retirement benefits upon A’s retirement in September 2021, and is accused of arbitrarily withdrawing and using about 16 million won of A’s National Pension benefits deposited into A’s bank account that Park had been holding.

Park was found to have deceived A by saying, "I deposit your wages into your bank account every month," or "When you get older and go to a nursing home, I will give it all at once."

In May 2021, Park is also accused of emotionally abusing A by telling him, "Since I bought your clothes and everything, give me all you have and leave," because A refused to get up early and work, causing A to wander around the company premises naked for about 30 minutes.

In July of the same year, Park is accused of assaulting A by hitting him multiple times with his hands and kicking him because A did not get up early.

The first trial court found Park guilty of all charges and sentenced him to three years and six months in prison, along with a five-year ban on employment at disability-related institutions.

The court noted, "The defendant did not abduct, lure, or confine the victim during the process of making him work, and the frequency and severity of abuse were relatively low. The victim was provided with food, clothing, shelter, and some medical care. However, the defendant exploited the victim’s labor for a very long period of 16 years and 6 months, infringing on the victim’s dignity and value as a human being."

During the trial, Park’s defense argued, "Since the intellectually disabled victim did not work the same hours or perform the same amount of work as a non-disabled person, calculating the victim’s wages at the same amount as a non-disabled person is too harsh on the defendant."

However, the court stated, "The company operated by the defendant is subject to the Minimum Wage Act, so the defendant should have paid the victim at least the minimum wage unless the victim was exempt from the minimum wage application."

It added, "Although the minimum wage does not apply to persons with mental disabilities whose work ability is significantly impaired and where it is clear that the mental disability directly hinders job performance, and who have been approved by the Minister of Employment and Labor, the defendant did not have such approval, so he should have paid the victim at least the minimum wage."

The second trial court also found Park guilty but reduced the sentence to three years in prison, considering that Park deposited 30 million won during the first trial and returned about 16 million won of A’s National Pension benefits that he had embezzled, and additionally deposited another 30 million won during the second trial.

In the second trial, Park claimed, "I took care of A, who has no relatives or caregivers, as if he were family for a long time, so the charges of quasi-fraud, violation of the Labor Standards Act, and violation of the Retirement Benefits Security Act, which are based on an employment relationship, do not apply, and I had no intent," but this was not accepted.

The court judged that Park clearly recognized that he had to pay wages to A as compensation for labor, considering that Park lied to A about depositing wages into his bank account and that A was enrolled in workplace health insurance based on the factory as the workplace.

The Supreme Court also found no problem with the original court’s judgment.