Kwon Sung-dong Appeals Second Trial Prison Sentence for Receiving 100 Million Won from Unification Church

Both Trials Sentence Kwon to Two Years in Prison and Order Forfeiture of 100 Million Won

Kwon Sung-dong, a member of the People Power Party, who was sentenced to two years in prison on appeal for receiving illegal political funds from the Unification Church, has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Kwon Sungdong, a member of the People Power Party, is attending the first trial on November 3 last year at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, regarding charges of illegally receiving political funds from the Unification Church, waiting for the trial to begin. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On May 4, Kwon's defense attorney submitted a notice of appeal to the Criminal Division 2-1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Baek Seung-yeop, Hwang Seung-tae, and Kim Young-hyun), which handled the appeal trial. In contrast, the special prosecution team has determined that since Kwon's conviction was upheld in the appellate court, there is no practical benefit to further appeal, and they do not plan to file one.

Kwon was brought to trial on charges of receiving 100 million won in cash in January 2022 from Yoon Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church World Headquarters, along with a request for government support for the church ahead of the 20th presidential election. Kwon's side argued that the case exceeded the special prosecutor's investigative scope and that the evidence obtained through search and seizure was collected illegally and should not be admissible as evidence of guilt, but the court did not accept these arguments.

The court of first instance found Kwon guilty on all charges and sentenced him to two years in prison and ordered the forfeiture of 100 million won. The appellate court delivered the same verdict and sentence on April 28.

After the appellate verdict, Kwon’s legal team released a statement criticizing the proceedings, saying, “This trial was nothing more than a perfunctory procedure aimed at a predetermined conclusion without even verifying the basic facts,” and added, “Even though the unfair investigative methods of the authorities were revealed, the court condoned them.”

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