"I'll Get You a Job" Former KEPCO Employee Who Took Bribes Also Sentenced to Prison in Appeal Trial

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The appeal of a former Korea Electric Power Corporation employee, who was sentenced to prison in the first trial for receiving tens of millions of won in bribes in exchange for job solicitation, has been dismissed.

According to the legal community on the 30th, the Gwangju District Court Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Kim Jae-geun) dismissed the appeal of Mr. A (57), who was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison in the original trial for violating the Attorney-at-Law Act and other charges.

Mr. A, who was working as a manager at a KEPCO branch, was indicted on charges of receiving 30 million won in cash and two sets of dried yellow corvina fish worth about 600,000 won from an acquaintance of a hometown friend in 2014 in exchange for a job solicitation.

He was solicited at a wine bar in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, by an acquaintance of a hometown friend he met through an introduction, who said, "My older brother graduated from law school but cannot find a job; please help him get a job at KEPCO."

He received 30 million won as lobbying funds and was later told that an additional 100 million won would be needed once the hiring was successful.

After receiving the money, he attempted to unfairly facilitate employment by providing golf and meal entertainment and car rentals to KEPCO employees.

Mr. A initially confessed to the prosecution but later denied the charges during the trial.

He appealed on the grounds of factual error, legal misinterpretation, and improper sentencing, claiming that he only received money from his hometown friend under the pretext of securing a construction contract.

The court ruled, "Considering the circumstances recognized by the evidence lawfully collected and examined by the original court, it is reasonable to conclude that the money was received under the pretext of job solicitation."

The court added, "Even considering favorable circumstances such as the return of the money, the crime seriously undermines the fairness of public institution employee recruitment, and thus the culpability is heavy."

Furthermore, "To avoid detection, a burner phone was used to share information with the money giver and coordinate statements during the investigation, and the circumstances after the crime are also unfavorable," the court added.

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