'KT Daughter Favoritism Allegation' Kim Sung-tae, Korean Party Lawmaker, First Trial Verdict Today

Kim Sung-tae, a member of the Liberty Korea Party related to KT's unfair hiring, is attending a bribery charge trial held at the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the 1st. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The first trial verdict for Kim Sung-tae (62), a member of the Liberty Korea Party who was indicted on charges of receiving bribes in the form of 'daughter's irregular employment' from KT, will be delivered on the 17th.

The Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 12 (Chief Judge Shin Hyuk-jae) will hold the sentencing hearing at 10 a.m. on the same day for Kim, who was charged with bribery. The sentencing hearing for Lee Seok-chae (75, detained), former KT chairman accused of giving bribes to Kim, will also be held together.

Kim was indicted without detention in July last year on charges of receiving bribes in the form of having his daughter hired as a regular employee through KT's open recruitment for new employees in 2012, in exchange for quashing the adoption of Lee's testimony during the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee audit that year.

The prosecution pointed to Lee as the bribe giver, believing that he gave the final order for this irregular hiring.

At the sentencing hearing held on December 20 last year, the prosecution requested a prison sentence of 4 years for Kim and 2 years for Lee.

If a sentence of imprisonment or higher is confirmed in this case, Kim will lose his position as a member of the National Assembly.

Kim denied the charges, stating, "I never intervened in Lee's summons to the audit," and regarding his daughter's hiring, he claimed that KT management made arbitrary and discretionary decisions.

Lee also argued that the request to appear at the audit at that time was nothing special, and there was no reason to give special treatment to the lawmaker who quashed it.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.