The prosecution evaluated that the substance of the illegal remittance to North Korea, in which Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is being investigated as an accomplice, was clearly confirmed through the first trial court ruling on the 7th regarding Lee Hwa-young, former Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province.
The prosecution pointed out that although the court recognized the substance of the illegal remittance to North Korea, it acquitted some charges and sentenced Lee to eight years in prison, which is lower than the statutory minimum sentence of 10 years despite the bribe amount exceeding 100 million won. They expressed their intention to appeal the first trial court ruling that sentenced former Deputy Governor Lee to nine years and six months in prison and a fine of 250 million won.
On the same day, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office stated in a press release after the court recognized most of the charges against former Deputy Governor Lee and imposed a heavy sentence, "The court accepted the prosecution's claims on most of the charges, including receiving bribes of 107 million won from Ssangbangwool Group, receiving illegal political funds of 218 million won, violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act through illegal remittance to North Korea, and obstruction of justice by destroying evidence, and found him guilty."
The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office added, "In particular, the court cited as reasons for the heavy sentence that ▲ as Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province, Lee received bribes and political funds while overseeing inter-Korean projects without any sense of problem for a long time and maintained close ties with private companies for an extended period, which makes his culpability severe ▲ he caused diplomatic and security issues by participating in the smuggling of millions of dollars ▲ he did not show remorse for his crimes and consistently made unreasonable excuses, making severe punishment inevitable."
Furthermore, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office stated, "Through today's ruling, it was clearly confirmed that defendant Lee Hwa-young committed the crimes during the process of promoting Gyeonggi Province's inter-Korean projects as Deputy Governor for Peace and illegally remitted a total of 8 million dollars of Ssangbangwool funds to North Korea, including 5 million dollars under the pretext of covering the costs of the Smart Farm project and 3 million dollars under the pretext of covering the travel expenses for then-Governor Lee Jae-myung's visit to North Korea."
The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office explained, "Specifically, regarding the 5 million dollars for the Smart Farm costs, it was confirmed that North Korea expected Gyeonggi Province to boldly promote cooperative projects, and defendant Lee promised North Korea 5 million dollars on behalf of Gyeonggi Province. However, when it became impossible to fulfill this promise, he had Kim Sung-tae cover the payment."
They continued, "Regarding the 3 million dollars for the governor's visit to North Korea, it was confirmed that after Governor Lee Jae-myung was excluded from the special delegation for the third inter-Korean summit in September 2018, defendant Lee was under considerable pressure regarding the governor's visit, and in May 2019, he tried to resolve the governor's visit issue through Kim Sung-tae, having him cover the 3 million dollars requested by North Korea for the visit expenses."
The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office added, "It was also confirmed that Kim Sung-tae's motivation to cover the 8 million dollars was because he expected full support from Governor Lee Jae-myung and Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young."
The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office stated, "The so-called 'illegal remittance to North Korea for Ssangbangwool stock manipulation' claim, which defendant Lee, his lawyers, some media, and political parties continuously raised until just before the ruling, was found to be untrue. The ruling specifically explained ▲ the circumstances under which Ssangbangwool promoted inter-Korean projects and the fact that Lee Hwa-young introduced An Bu-su, making it clear that the inter-Korean projects were promoted with Lee's help ▲ although the Nanos IR materials mention contract payments, according to witness statements, they could not record the fact of the remittance, so the term was used out of necessity, and Ssangbangwool was not even at the stage of paying contract money for the business rights at that time ▲ defendant Lee's claim that Kim Sung-tae recklessly deceived overseas investors to raise stock prices is unreasonable ▲ even if Ri Ho-nam intended to make money using Ssangbangwool, it was merely Ri Ho-nam's secret internal operation toward South Korea and does not contradict the authenticity of Ssangbangwool's promotion of inter-Korean projects, among other detailed reasons."
Earlier, at the sentencing hearing for former Deputy Governor Lee on April 8, the prosecution, which had sought 15 years in prison and a fine of 1 billion won, expressed its intention to appeal.
At that time, the prosecution sought 12 years in prison, a fine of 1 billion won, and confiscation of about 334 million won for bribery and violation of the Political Funds Act, and three years in prison for violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and obstruction of justice by destroying evidence.
The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office stated, "However, regarding sentencing, although the bribe amount exceeded 100 million won, the court sentenced eight years in prison for the bribery charge, which is lower than the statutory minimum sentence of 10 years, and acquitted some charges related to procedural violations of foreign exchange transactions. We plan to file an appeal as soon as we finish reviewing the judgment."
The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office added, "In particular, the court recognized the substance of the illegal remittance to North Korea, where 8 million dollars were delivered through smuggling, and found the violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act due to smuggling guilty. However, although it acknowledged the delivery to North Korean personnel, it acquitted some charges related to violations of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act concerning delivery to designated financial sanctions targets, citing lack of proof that the money was delivered to the Workers' Party of Korea. We will correct this in the appellate court."
Finally, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office stated, "Going forward, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office investigation team will clarify the substantial truth solely based on evidence and legal principles through the remaining investigation and trial regarding the illegal remittance to North Korea and hold those responsible strictly accountable."
On the same day, the Criminal Division 11 of the Suwon District Court (Presiding Judge Shin Jin-woo) sentenced former Deputy Governor Lee, who was detained and indicted on charges of violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery), the Political Funds Act, and obstruction of justice by destroying evidence, to nine years and six months in prison and a fine of 250 million won, finding most of the charges against him guilty. The court also ordered confiscation of 32,595,000 won.
The court separately sentenced one year and six months in prison for the violation of the Political Funds Act, following Article 18, Paragraph 3 of the Public Official Election Act, which stipulates separate sentencing for election crimes and illegal receipt of political funds. For the remaining charges, including bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and obstruction of justice, the court sentenced eight years in prison, a fine of 250 million won, and confiscation of 32,595,000 won.
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