Supreme Court Confirms 1 Million Won Fine for Lawyer Who Lied in Trial of 'Sponsor Prosecutor' Case

Former Chief Prosecutor Kim Hyung-jun

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A lawyer accused of perjury in the so-called 'sponsor prosecutor' case has had a fine confirmed by the Supreme Court. The 'sponsor prosecutor' case refers to the period from 2012 to 2016 when former Chief Prosecutor Kim Hyeongjun (51, 25th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute) received hospitality and entertainment over several years while providing investigative favors related to businessman B, a middle and high school classmate.

On the 2nd, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Kim Jaehyung) announced that it upheld the lower court's ruling sentencing lawyer A (51), who was indicted for perjury, to a fine of 1 million won in the final appeal.

Previously, in January 2017, at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, A appeared as a witness in the bribery trial of businessman B, who was identified as former Chief Prosecutor Kim's sponsor. When asked by the defense whether he had ever called the prosecutor's office to provide the phone number used by B, A was accused of giving a false answer by saying "No."

In court, A's side argued, "At that time, I did not know B's phone number, and I only informed them of a call received with a restricted caller ID."

The first and second trials sentenced A to a fine of 1 million won, stating that he gave false testimony contrary to his memory. The second trial court ruled, "It is reasonable to believe that the defendant at least implicitly knew that the 'unknown number' was B's."

Furthermore, the court pointed out, "The overall context of the defendant's sworn testimony concerns whether the defendant contacted the prosecutor's office to provide contact information to locate B," and "It is recognized that the defendant explicitly testified 'No' to this question."

The Supreme Court also agreed with this judgment. The court stated, "The lower court did not err in its legal interpretation regarding the establishment of perjury," and dismissed the appeal.

Meanwhile, former Chief Prosecutor Kim was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probation, a ruling confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2018.

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