Prosecution Seeks 12-Year Prison Term Again for Kim Yong in 2nd Trial Over 'Illegal Political Funds'... "No Sense of Guilt"

Yoo Dong-gyu Sentenced to 1 Year and 6 Months in Prison... "Whistleblower of Political Funding Crime"

The prosecution requested the court to sentence former Deputy Director Kim Yong of the Democratic Research Institute to 12 years in prison, the same as in the first trial, on charges of receiving illegal political funds and bribes from a private contractor involved in the Daejang-dong case.

Kim Yong, former Vice President of the Democratic Research Institute. Yonhap News Agency

On the 28th, at the appellate trial sentencing hearing for Kim Yong’s case involving violations of the Political Funds Act and bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, held by the 13th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Baek Gang-jin), the prosecution demanded a 12-year prison sentence and a fine of 380 million KRW. They also requested an order to confiscate 790 million KRW.

For co-defendant Yoo Dong-gyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, the prosecution sought a sentence of 1 year and 6 months in prison, and for lawyer Jeong Min-yong, a 1-year prison sentence. For the fund provider Nam Wook, they requested a 1-year prison sentence.

The prosecution stated, “This case has seriously damaged the public’s trust in the connection and transparency of the presidential election. Because this case could cause the flower of democracy to wither or even extinguish the belief that it can bloom, it is necessary to strictly punish all defendants compared to other violations of the Political Funds Act.”

Regarding former Deputy Director Kim, they said, “Despite receiving a large amount of bribe-like political funds and the very poor nature of the crime, he has denied the crime from the investigation stage through to the courtroom without showing any remorse.” They added, “The defendant seemed to have no sense of guilt, mistakenly believing that as long as he won the election by any means necessary, all events during the process could be covered up.”

About former Director Yoo, the prosecution emphasized, “The defendant has confessed to the full scope of the case from the investigation stage to this court and is deeply remorseful. While it is true that the defendant played an important role in this case, we must not forget that he is both a major accomplice in the crime and a whistleblower of the political funds crime.” They also noted, “Article 53 of the Political Funds Act provides for sentence mitigation for whistleblowers of political funds crimes.”

Kim Yong, classified as a close aide to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is accused of conspiring with former Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation from April to August 2021 to receive 847 million KRW in four installments from private contractor Nam Wook under the pretext of presidential primary election funds. He is also charged with receiving a total of 190 million KRW in four installments from former Director Yoo between February 2013 and April 2014 while serving as a standing member of the Urban Construction Committee of the Seongnam City Council, in exchange for facilitating the establishment of the corporation and the Daejang-dong development project.

Kim was detained and indicted in November 2022 on charges including violations of the Political Funds Act. During the first trial, he was released on bail in May of last year but was sentenced to five years in prison in November and had his bail revoked, resulting in his detention in court. The first trial court recognized 600 million KRW of illegal political funds and 70 million KRW of bribes as proven charges.