Court Sentences Yang Jin-ho to 7 Years in Prison for 'Gapjil Assault'... "Extremely Serious Crime"

Chairman Yang Jin-ho. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Yang Jin-ho, chairman of Korea Future Technology, who was arrested and indicted on charges including 'gapjil assault,' was sentenced to a total of 7 years in prison in the first trial.

The Criminal Division 1 of Seongnam Branch of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Soo-yeol Lee) held a sentencing hearing for Chairman Yang this morning and sentenced him to 5 years in prison for charges before the confirmed verdict in December 2013 (sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison with 3 years probation for aiding copyright law violation, etc.), and 2 years in prison with a fine of 19.5 million KRW for charges after that.

This is pursuant to Article 39 of the Criminal Act, which states, "When there are crimes not yet adjudicated among concurrent offenses, the sentence shall be imposed considering the fairness of simultaneously adjudicating those crimes and the crimes with confirmed judgments." The court stated the reason for sentencing, saying, "The defendant's criminal nature is extremely serious," and "The victims complain of mental suffering due to personal humiliation, but there has been no special effort to compensate the victims, and they want severe punishment."

Chairman Yang was arrested and indicted on December 5, 2018, on charges including special rape, habitual assault, violation of the Narcotics Control Act (marijuana), violation of the Animal Protection Act, and violation of the Firearms and Ammunition Act.

Among these, the violation of the Animal Protection Act involves allegations of animal cruelty by forcing employees to brutally strike live chickens with Japanese swords and shooting chickens with arrows.

Additionally, Yang is accused of leading illegal distribution of obscene materials through the 'webhard cartel,' embezzling about 16.7 billion KRW of company funds including proceeds from the sale of subsidiaries, and detaining and assaulting a university professor whom he suspected of having an affair with his wife.

He was also indicted on charges of spying on employees by installing a program on the company messenger that secretly allowed him to read mobile phone text messages. He has been detained for 1 year and 5 months after two additional arrest warrants were issued, and he appealed the court's decision to the High Court and then to the Supreme Court, but was dismissed.

At the prosecution's closing argument on the 7th, they demanded an 11-year prison sentence for Chairman Yang. Specifically, 5 years in prison for charges before the confirmed verdict in 2013, and 6 years in prison with a fine of 19.5 million KRW for charges after that.

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