The former agency representative, who was indicted for giving false testimony in the trial related to the late Jang Ja-yeon, was sentenced to prison in the second trial and was taken into custody in court.
On the 20th, the Criminal Appeals Division 4-1 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Yang Ji-jung, Eom Cheol, Lee Hoon-jae) sentenced Kim Jong-seung (54), the former agency representative of Jang, who was indicted for perjury, to 1 year and 6 months in prison and took him into custody in court.
The court stated, "The defendant operated the agency to which the late Jang Ja-yeon belonged and knew the inside story better than anyone else, yet he was eager to evade responsibility and downplay the incident," adding, "At that time, the defendant even fled to Japan."
It continued, "Considering the testimony given in the related criminal trial and the series of attitudes shown in this case, it is questionable whether the defendant felt even the slightest remorse or pangs of conscience toward the deceased," and added, "As the defendant's responsibility has been recognized in criminal proceedings, it does not appear that the deceased fabricated completely baseless falsehoods."
Furthermore, the court said, "Nevertheless, the defendant has continued to make false statements, denied the crime even in this appeal, and has not shown any attitude of remorse," and explained the sentencing reason, "The defendant's testimony is very important to this case, and considering these circumstances comprehensively, the matter is not light and the nature of the crime is serious, so severe punishment is appropriate." The court also stated the reason for the custody order was "concern about flight risk."
Kim is accused of giving false testimony as a witness in November 2012 during the defamation trial of then-Democratic United Party lawmaker Lee Jong-gul.
In 2009, during a National Assembly question session, former lawmaker Lee mentioned the names of executives of Chosun Ilbo in connection with the Jang Ja-yeon case, and Chosun Ilbo responded with civil and criminal lawsuits.
After losing the civil lawsuit, Chosun Ilbo withdrew the criminal complaint against former lawmaker Lee, and in March 2013, the court dismissed the criminal charges.
Before the dismissal of charges, in November 2012, Kim appeared as a witness in former lawmaker Lee's criminal trial and testified that he only learned who Bang Yong-hoon, president of Koreana Hotel, was after Jang's death, and that he "met (him) by chance (at a drinking party)." He also testified that he never assaulted Jang Ja-yeon or other affiliated entertainers.
In May 2019, the Ministry of Justice's Past Affairs Committee announced the results of the investigation into the "Jang Ja-yeon list" case and recommended the prosecution investigate Kim's perjury charges, stating that Kim's testimonies in former lawmaker Lee's criminal trial amounted to perjury.
The prosecution, after investigating Kim, found the perjury charges valid and indicted Kim in July 2019.
In the first trial, only 2 out of 5 charges against Kim were found guilty, and he was sentenced to 4 months in prison with a 1-year probation. Kim consistently denied the charges from the investigation stage through the trial. During the trial, Bang Jung-oh, CEO of TV Chosun, was summoned as a witness but did not appear. Former president Bang Yong-hoon also did not respond to the witness summons.
The court judged Kim's testimony about the dinner attended by former president Bang Yong-hoon in October 2007, which both Kim and Jang attended, and the meeting between Kim, Jang, and Bang Jung-oh at a nightclub in October 2008, as perjury.
The court pointed out, "It is incomprehensible that Jang, who had just started her entertainment activities, went to the dinner where Bang Yong-hoon was present on her own without the agency's involvement to greet him," and added, "It should be considered that the defendant knew at least about Bang Yong-hoon's attendance at the dinner."
It also stated, "Considering the witness's statements and other evidence, the defendant knew in advance about Bang Jung-oh's meeting and took Jang to the nightclub," adding, "This also matches Jang's phone records."
However, the first trial court acquitted Kim of the statement that he "never assaulted Jang or other affiliated entertainers," reasoning that "it should be understood as not assaulting frequently rather than never assaulting," and "based on the submitted evidence alone, it cannot be concluded as false."
But the second trial court overturned all of Kim's charges that the first trial court had acquitted.
The court stated, "The intent of the questions asked to the defendant during the trial was whether he assaulted once or repeatedly," and added, "It is difficult to accept the first trial court's judgment of not guilty."
The court pointed out, "Although former lawmaker Lee Jong-gul's criminal case was formally closed due to withdrawal of the complaint, Kim's testimony was closely related to that case," and added, "Nevertheless, Kim, who operated the agency to which the deceased belonged and knew the inside story better than anyone else, was eager to evade responsibility and to downplay and conceal the incident."
It continued, "Considering Kim's attitude in this case, it is questionable whether he felt even the slightest remorse or pangs of conscience toward the deceased," and concluded, "The nature of the crime is serious, so severe punishment is appropriate."
Previously, Kim was also convicted by the Supreme Court in 2013 for assaulting Jang, receiving a sentence of 4 months in prison with a 1-year probation.
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