Supreme Court Confirms Not Guilty Verdict for 'MB Butler' Kim Baek-jun on Bribery Facilitation Charges

Allegation of Delivering 400 Million KRW in NIS Special Activity Funds to MB
Exoneration Confirmed for Aiding and Abetting Loss of State Funds under Special Act

Kim Baek-jun, former Chief of General Planning at the Blue House. [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Kim Baek-joon, former Blue House General Planning Officer known as the ‘butler’ of former President Lee Myung-bak, has been acquitted in relation to delivering the National Intelligence Service’s special activity funds to the former president.

The Supreme Court’s 1st Division (Presiding Justice Kim Seon-su) on the 5th upheld the lower court’s ruling in the appeal trial of Kim, who was charged with aiding bribery and aiding loss of public funds under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. The court confirmed the not guilty verdict for aiding bribery under the special law and the dismissal for aiding loss of public funds under the special law.

The court stated, “The lower court’s judgment is proper, and there is no error in fact-finding or legal interpretation.”

Kim was charged with receiving 200 million won each on two occasions in 2008 and 2010 from then-NIS Directors Kim Seong-ho and Won Sei-hoon, and delivering the funds to former President Lee, thereby assisting in the crimes of bribery and loss of public funds committed by the former president.

However, both the first and second trials acquitted Kim of aiding bribery under the special law, stating, “It is highly likely that the NIS director’s provision of funds under the president’s instructions was regarded as customary budget support and cannot be definitively classified as bribery,” and “There is no proof of the principal offender’s crime.”

In fact, former President Lee was also indicted on bribery charges related to receiving NIS special activity funds but was acquitted.

Regarding the charge of aiding loss of public funds under the special law, since Kim did not hold the status of an accounting-related official, even if the charge of aiding loss of public funds under the special law as a status crime were to be established, punishment should follow the statutory penalty for aiding simple embezzlement. Based on this premise, the court ruled dismissal, stating, “The indictment was filed after the seven-year statute of limitations had passed since the completion of each criminal act.”

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