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Former president Park Geun-hye attends the first hearing of her trial at the Seoul Central District Court on May 23, 2017. Park refused to attend the sentencing phase of the trial on Apr. 6, in which she was given a 24-year prison term and fined US$16.8 million for her convictions on a variety of bribery and corruption charges.
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Park took money exchange for helping Lee Jae-yong complete takeover of Samsung Group
An appeals court trying former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, 66, concluded that Park had received a bribe in exchange for helping Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, 50, complete his takeover of the Samsung Group, diverging from a previous ruling by a district court. This balloons the Samsung bribe to 8.7 billion won (US$7.8 million), resulting in a stiffer prison sentence for Park and raising the likelihood that Lee will suffer a harsher sentence when the Supreme Court reaches a final decision on his case. On Aug. 24, the 4th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court (under Hon. Kim Mun-seok and Hon. Jin Gwang-cheol) sentenced Park to 25 years in prison and a fine of 20 billion won (US$17.9 million). Park had been charged with asking for or receiving 24.6 billion won (around US$22 million) in bribes from Samsung, Lotte and SK, which constitutes bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes). Park had received a sentence of 24 years and 18 billion won (US$16.2 million) in fines in her initial trial. “Inappropriate deals between political power and big business undermine the foundation of democracy and distort the free market order, causing the Korean people to feel severe loss,” the court said as it explained the reason for its sentence. If higher courts uphold Park’s conviction by a district court for appropriating special operations funds from the director of the National Intelligence Service, her final sentence will be 33 years in prison, a 20 billion won (US$17.9 million) fine, and 3.3 billion won (around US$2.9 million) in restitution. Park was given a stiffer sentence because the appeals court parted ways with the lower court in finding that Lee had made an “inappropriate request.” “There was a quid-pro-quo relationship between the funding [1.6 billion won] that Lee and others provided the Korea Winter Sports Elite Center and his implicit request for assistance with developing the biotech industry; inheriting control of the group; and overcoming the obstacles posed to management by foreign investors, including Elliott Management,” the court said, concluding that there had been inappropriate requests not only in a general sense but also in specific instances. Ruling likely to impact Supreme Court’s decision on Lee Jae-yong This ruling expands the amount of Samsung’s bribe to 8.7 billion won ((US$7.8 million) – 1.4 billion won more than the initial ruling, in which the only bribe recognized by the court was the 7.3 billion won (US$6.55 million) in equestrian support, including three racehorses, given to Chung Yoo-ra, daughter of Choi Soon-sil. In Lee’s appeal, the court released him from jail on a suspended sentence, only acknowledging 3.6 billion won (US$3.23 million) in bribes. But in the rest of the related trials – Park Geun-hye’s initial trial and appeal and Lee’s own initial trial – Lee’s bribe has been calculated at being over 7 billion won (7.3, 8.7 and 8.9, respectively), which is likely to have an impact on the Supreme Court’s decision. The high court upheld Park’s conviction on the grounds given for her impeachment, namely strong-arming companies into funding the newly established Mir and K-Sports Foundations and abusing her power by ordering the composition of a blacklist of figures in the cultures and the arts, which was referred to the full bench of the court. The court also issued a scathing rebuke for Park’s refusal to appear in court: “Park has even completely ignored the people’s final hope for the full truth to be revealed.” In related news, Choi Soon-sil was sentenced to 20 years in prison, a 20 billion won (US$17.9 million). fine and 7.53 billion won (US$6.76 million) in restitution, while Ahn Jong-beom, former Blue House Senior Secretary to the President for Policy Coordination, was sentenced to five years in prison, a 60 million won fine (US$53,883), 19.9 million won (US$17,871) in restitution and the confiscation of two name-brand handbags. By Kim Min-kyoung and Ko Han-sol, staff reporters Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
