Prison Sentence Finalized for Former Aide to Song Younggil on Political Funds Act Violation
Sentenced to 1 Year and 2 Months in Prison and Ordered Forfeiture of 92.4 Million Won
A prison sentence has been finalized for the former aide of Song Young-gil, a candidate for the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was indicted for violating the Political Funds Act in connection with covering the costs of an opinion poll.
According to legal sources on August 6, the Supreme Court’s third division, presided over by Justice Lee Sukyeon, recently upheld the original verdict sentencing Park, the aide, to one year and two months in prison and a fine of 92.4 million won on charges including a violation of the Political Funds Act.
The court found Park guilty of using 92.4 million won from the Institute for Peaceful and Practical Issues (Muksayeon), an organization supporting and assisting Song’s campaign, to pay for a primary-related opinion poll conducted by a consulting firm in 2020 and of creating a false estimate in order to cover up this transaction. Park was also found guilty of instructing the Muksayeon office manager to replace all hard drives to prevent detection of relevant materials after reports emerged regarding the so-called “Pro-Moon Gate.”
However, Park was acquitted at both the first and second trials of conspiring with then-deputy secretary-general Lee and others to distribute a total of 67.5 million won to win Song’s election at the Democratic Party convention in May 2021. This is because the court deemed the audio recordings from former deputy secretary-general Lee Jeong-geun’s mobile phone, which triggered the investigation, to be inadmissible as illegally collected evidence.
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Both prosecutors and Park appealed the parts of the ruling they disagreed with, but prosecutors later withdrew their appeal, finalizing Park’s acquittal in the money envelope case. Subsequently, the Supreme Court dismissed Park’s appeal, stating there were no errors in the lower court’s judgment regarding the conviction.
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