'Bribery Election' Former SMBA Chairman Park Seong-taek's Appeal Trial Reduced to Suspended Sentence

Court: "Admitted Crime and Showed Remorse"... Took 5 Years Until Appeal, Completing Entire 4-Year Term

Park Sung-taek, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, is attending the New Year's meeting between the Democratic Party and economic organization leaders held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 10th. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Former Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (KOSME) Chairman Park Seong-taek, who was sentenced to 8 months in prison in the first trial for illegal election campaigning ahead of the KOSME chairman election, received a reduced sentence of probation in the appellate trial.

The Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Appeals Division 2 (Presiding Judge Kim Yeon-hwa) overturned the first trial's 8-month prison sentence and sentenced former Chairman Park to 8 months in prison with 2 years of probation on the 21st in the appeal trial on charges of violating the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Act.

Co-defendants, former KOSME Vice Chairman Lee and an executive of the Korea Ascon Industry Cooperative Federation, who were also sentenced to 8 months in prison in the first trial, were each given 8 months in prison with 2 years of probation after the first trial was overturned.

Former Chairman Park was indicted without detention in July of the same year on charges of providing meals and accommodation to the electorate at a hotel in Seoul during the KOSME chairman election in February 2015.

At that time, Park, while serving as chairman of the Ascon Cooperative, organized cooperative executives and employees into teams such as the Situation Team, Public Relations Team, and Policy Team, and conducted illegal election campaigning nationwide, according to investigations.

Under the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Act, if an incumbent chairman is confirmed to have committed election fraud and is fined more than 1 million won, the election is invalidated. Since the appeal trial took five years, former Chairman Park completed his full four-year term and retired in February last year.

The appellate court upheld the first trial's findings regarding the facts of the crime but reduced the sentence, stating, "Considering that the defendants confessed and showed remorse for the crime at the time and have no prior record of similar offenses, the original sentence was somewhat heavy."

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