Lee Jae-myung Ssangbangwool North Korea Remittance Case, 'Lee Hwa-young Guilty' Verdict Assigned to Trial Court

The trial of Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was indicted on charges including third-party bribery related to Ssangbangwool's remittance to North Korea, will be handled by the court that sentenced former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor for Peace, Lee Hwa-young, to a heavy sentence.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is entering the courthouse to attend the continued first trial hearing on the 10th afternoon at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, related to the charge of perjury instruction in the Public Official Election Act trial.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 13th, the case against Lee, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery), violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, and violation of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, was assigned to the Criminal Division 11 of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Shin Jin-woo).

The assignment of this case is known to have been automatically decided according to the court's electronic system. The Criminal Division 11 of Suwon District Court is the same court that previously convicted former Gyeonggi Province Deputy Governor for Peace Lee Hwa-young and former Vice Chairman of Ssangbangwool Group Bang Yong-chul, who were first indicted on suspicion of illegal remittance to North Korea.

On the 7th, the Criminal Division 11 of Suwon District Court, in the first trial sentencing hearing for former Deputy Governor Lee, who was detained and indicted on charges including violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery), violation of the Political Funds Act, and obstruction of justice by evidence destruction, found most of the charges against him guilty and sentenced him to 9 years and 6 months in prison and a fine of 250 million KRW. Additionally, a confiscation order of 325.95 million KRW was issued. Former Vice Chairman Bang Yong-chul was also found guilty of violating the Political Funds Act and bribery charges and was sentenced to 2 years in prison.

Meanwhile, seven lawyers have been registered as the defense team for Lee’s case related to remittance to North Korea. They include Park Gyun-taek, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea affiliated with the law firm Gwangsan, as well as lawyers Lee Seung-yeop, Kim Jong-geun, Lee Tae-hyung, Kim Hee-soo, lawyer Cho Sang-ho of the law firm Parang, and lawyer Jeon Seok-jin of the law firm Sankyung.