‘Conviction for Bribery Charges’ Won Yoo-chul Appeals First Trial Verdict

Won Yu-cheol and Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office Appeal First Trial Verdict... Appeal Filed on the 20th

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[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Won Yoo-chul, a member of the Liberty Korea Party who was sentenced to prison in the first trial for accepting bribes from local businesses in exchange for favors, has filed an appeal.

According to the court on the 30th, Won's side submitted an appeal to the 11th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court (Chief Judge Lee Hwan-seung), which handled the first trial, on the 20th. It was also confirmed that the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, which investigated the case, submitted an appeal on the same day.

On the 14th, the court sentenced Won to 10 months in prison for the charge of accepting bribes under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. Additionally, under the separate provisions of the Public Official Election Act, Won was separately fined 900,000 KRW and ordered to pay a fine of 25 million KRW for violating the Political Funds Act.

If the sentence handed down in the first trial is upheld, Won, an elected official, will lose his seat. This is because if a fine of 1 million KRW or more is confirmed for violating the Political Funds Act, the official loses their position. For general criminal cases, the standard is imprisonment without labor or higher.

Won was indicted without detention on charges of bribery and accepting bribes under the Special Act, violating the Political Funds Act, and violating the Public Official Election Act. He is accused of receiving approximately 180 million KRW from four local companies in Pyeongtaek, with whom he conspired with his aides from 2011, in exchange for facilitating civil complaints. He is also accused of receiving illegal political funds amounting to 53 million KRW and improperly spending 65 million KRW in political funds from March 2012 to 2017.

At the time, the first trial court stated, "The fact that a member of the National Assembly has violated the duty of integrity cannot be considered a minor offense," and judged, "Although the defendant did not actively claim to have committed the crime, he was aware, at least implicitly, that donations were being made under other people's names and still illegally received political funds."

Meanwhile, it is known that Won's former aide Hwang and former special advisor Choi, who were also found guilty in the first trial, have filed appeals as well.

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