Attorney Kang Yong-seok (54, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 23), who was detained in the first trial on charges of forgery of private documents but acquitted in the second trial and released after 163 days of detention, will receive 46 million KRW in criminal compensation.
According to the legal community on the 11th, the Seoul Central District Court announced on the 7th through the 'Criminal Compensation Decision Notice' posted in the official gazette that "the state has finalized a criminal compensation decision to pay the claimant (Kang Yong-seok) 41 million KRW as detention compensation and 5 million KRW as cost compensation."
Attorney Kang Yong-seok is attending the first trial sentencing hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
Attorney Kang was sentenced to one year in prison and detained in court on October 24, 2018, in the first trial on charges of forging documents to withdraw a lawsuit filed by the husband of famous blogger 'Dodommam' Kim Mina, who was rumored to have an affair with him.
However, he was acquitted in the second trial on April 5, 2019, and released. It was 163 days after his detention. The prosecution appealed, but the Supreme Court finally confirmed his acquittal on October 26 of last year.
On November 17 of the same year, Attorney Kang submitted an application for criminal compensation to the Seoul Central District Court. Then, on May 29 of this year, the Criminal Division 51 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Cha Young-min) partially accepted Kang's application.
Article 2 (Conditions for Compensation) Paragraph 1 of the "Act on Criminal Compensation and Restoration of Honor" (Criminal Compensation Act), which stipulates the methods and procedures for criminal compensation and restoration of honor for those acquitted in criminal proceedings, allows defendants who have been acquitted through general procedures under the Criminal Procedure Act, retrial, or extraordinary appeal procedures and who have been detained pending trial to claim compensation from the state for their detention.
Article 5 (Contents of Compensation) Paragraph 1 of the same law stipulates that when compensating for detention, compensation shall be paid according to the number of days detained at a rate not less than the daily minimum wage under the Minimum Wage Act and not exceeding the amount prescribed by Presidential Decree. Enforcement Decree Article 2 sets the compensation limit at "five times the daily minimum wage under the Minimum Wage Act."
Meanwhile, the same court also decided on criminal compensation ranging from 6.05 million to 6.37 million KRW for former Korea Coast Guard Commissioner Kim Seok-gyun, former West Sea Maritime Police Commissioner Kim Soo-hyun, and former West Sea Maritime Police Situation Officer Yoo Yeon-sik, who were acquitted after being indicted for failing to take proper initial measures during the Sewol ferry disaster.
They were prosecuted in February 2020 on charges of professional negligence causing death for failing to fulfill their duty of care necessary for rescue immediately after the Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, 2014, which resulted in 445 casualties, but the Supreme Court finally acquitted them last November.
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