'Fine for Alleged Unfair Support to Affiliates' - DL Group Chairman Lee Hae-uk Files Appeal

Chairman Lee Hae-wook of DL Group, indicted on charges of unfairly supporting a private company by mobilizing group affiliates / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Cho and Daehyun Kim] Lee Hae-wook, chairman of DL Group, who was sentenced to a fine in the first trial for unfairly supporting group affiliates, will face an appellate court ruling.

According to the legal community on the 3rd, Lee's defense attorney and the prosecution submitted an appeal to Judge Kim Jun-hyuk of the Criminal Division 5 at the Seoul Central District Court, the first trial court, the day before. Lee's side stated the reason for the appeal as "to clarify the truth by factually proving that there was no illegal act." A prosecution official explained, "The first trial ruling recognized all charges including violation of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act and the Fair Trade Act as guilty, but sentenced a fine instead of imprisonment," adding, "We appealed on the grounds of inappropriate sentencing."

Earlier, Lee was indicted on charges of violating the Fair Trade Act by transferring the trademark rights of the group hotel brand 'GLAD' to APD, a company wholly owned by himself and his son, and allowing a subsidiary, Ora Tourism (currently GLAD Hotel & Resort), to use it. There is also a charge that Ora Tourism paid approximately 3.1 billion KRW in fees to APD under the name of brand usage rights.

The first trial court found all charges against Lee guilty but sentenced him to a fine of 200 million KRW, which was lower than the prosecution's requested sentence. At the sentencing hearing, the prosecution requested 1 year and 6 months imprisonment. Meanwhile, Lee has maintained his innocence throughout the first trial process.

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