Supreme Court Partially Acknowledges Kim Ki-chun and Cho Yoon-sun's 'Abuse of Authority'... "Second Trial to Be Reheld"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court en banc partially acknowledged the charge of 'abuse of authority' against former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-chun and former Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Cho Yoon-sun, who were indicted in the 'cultural blacklist' case, but remanded the case for a retrial in the second instance.

On the 30th, the Supreme Court en banc ruled in the case involving seven individuals, including former Chief Kim, on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights, stating, "The original court's judgment is overturned and remanded due to legal misinterpretation and insufficient examination."

The en banc stated, "The defendants' orders to exclude support constitute abuse of authority," and added, "Accordingly, the original court's guilty verdict recognizing that certain acts by employees of the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service, the Korean Film Council, and the Korea Publishing Culture Industry Promotion Agency exceeded their legally defined duties or violated legal obligations, thus constituting 'compelling someone to perform an unnecessary act,' is correct."

However, regarding the acts of sending various lists and requiring frequent reports on the progress of deliberations during public project proceedings, the en banc found that the original court's guilty verdict recognizing these as 'compelling someone to perform an unnecessary act' involved legal misinterpretation and insufficient examination. This implies that the acts committed by former Chief Kim and others must be individually reviewed with separate examination and judgment. The court found no error in the original court's judgment concerning charges of coercion and violation of the National Assembly Witness Examination Act.

Former Chief Kim was prosecuted for directing the creation and execution of a 'blacklist' excluding support for specific individuals and organizations among senior Blue House officials during the Park Geun-hye administration. He was also accused of conspiring with former Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jong-deok and others to force senior department officials to resign. Former Minister Cho was charged with selecting blacklist targets for exclusion from literary fund support and notifying the Office of the Senior Secretary for Education and Culture while serving as Senior Secretary for Political Affairs.

Both the first and second trials recognized the abuse of authority charges against former Chief Kim and others. The first trial sentenced former Chief Kim to three years in prison and former Minister Cho to one year in prison with a two-year probation. The second trial found former Chief Kim guilty of coercion, which had been acquitted in the first trial, and increased his sentence to four years in prison. Former Minister Cho was also sentenced to two years in prison.

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