Gang Sentenced to Prison for Digging Up 50 Roots of 16-Year-Old Ginseng and Denying Knowledge

[Image source = Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] A group accused of theft after digging up 50 ginseng roots with owners and 4 saribeoseot mushrooms denied intent, but they were sentenced to imprisonment again in the second trial.

On the 9th, the Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 1 (Chief Judge Kim Dae-sung) dismissed the appeal filed by Mr. A (49) and Mr. B (48), who were indicted for special theft and violation of the Forest Resources Act, and sentenced them to 6 months in prison, the same as the original sentence.

Mr. A and others are accused of digging up about 40 to 50 cultivated ginseng roots approximately 16 years old and 4 naturally growing saribeoseot mushrooms in the state-owned forest of Yanggu County on September 2 last year, using a hand hoe and tree branches, and putting them in a backpack to take away.

They pleaded for leniency, saying, "We collected the ginseng from the mountain and did not recognize that it belonged to someone else, so we did not intentionally commit theft."

However, the first trial court judged that there was intent to commit the crime, citing that the ginseng dug up was about 16 years old and concentrated in a narrow area, and that the defendants were also cultivating ginseng and could distinguish between wild and cultivated ginseng, and sentenced them to imprisonment.

They immediately appealed the result, but the appellate court also dismissed it, stating, "There has been no significant change in circumstances to consider in sentencing since the original judgment was announced."

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