Court to Deliver First Trial Verdict Today for Former Lawmaker Hong Moon-jong on 7.5 Billion Won Embezzlement and Breach of Trust Charges

Former National Assembly Member Hong Moon-jong

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The first trial sentencing hearing for former National Assembly member Hong Moon-jong, who was indicted on charges including embezzling approximately 7.5 billion KRW of private school foundation funds, will be held on the 1st.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Presiding Judge Kim Miri) will hold the sentencing hearing for former Assemblyman Hong's charges of violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement) and others, starting at 2:30 p.m. that day, and will deliver the verdict.

Former Assemblyman Hong was indicted on June 27, 2018, while serving as a member of the Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the People Power Party.

He is accused of breach of trust and embezzlement of 7.5 billion KRW in school funds, including arbitrarily using 2.4 billion KRW of school funds that were spent on purchasing calligraphy and paintings but were later recovered during his tenure as chairman of the Kyungmin Academy and president of Kyungmin University.

Additionally, from June 2013 to September 2014, while serving as a member of the National Assembly’s Future Creation and Broadcasting and Communications Committee, he is accused of receiving bribes amounting to about 100 million KRW, including car lease fees, from IT company representatives under the pretext of lobbying relevant government departments.

Earlier, the prosecution requested the court to sentence him to five years in prison for bribery charges and four years for the other charges during the closing arguments, along with imposing a fine of 166 million KRW and an additional confiscation order of about 80 million KRW.

In his final statement, former Assemblyman Hong said, "I never accepted bribes nor embezzled school funds," calling it "a fabrication by the prosecution."

He added, "Please leave a clear record in history that only one part of the Republic of Korea’s judicial system stands on the side of common sense and justice," and requested, "I ask the presiding judge to make a fair judgment and prove my innocence."

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