'Land Speculation Allegations' Ki Young-ok Sentenced to 2 Years and 6 Months in Prison

Ki Young-ok, former director of Gwangju FC

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] A prison sentence was requested for Ki Young-ok, the father of soccer player Ki Sung-yong, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Farmland Act.

At the sentencing hearing held at the Gwangju District Court Criminal Division 6 (Presiding Judge Yoon Bong-hak), the prosecution requested 2 years and 6 months imprisonment and a fine of 10 million won for Ki (64, former director of Gwangju FC).

Ki was prosecuted for submitting a false agricultural management plan while purchasing about 10 parcels of farmland in the Geumho-dong area of Seo-gu from July to November 2016 for over 5 billion won.

He is also accused of illegally converting some of the purchased land into a crane garage and changing the land's form without permission.

The prosecution stated the reason for the request, saying, "The land Ki purchased included farmland and park sites. It appears he bought it expecting a large price difference if a park was developed on one side."

In his final argument, Ki’s lawyer sought leniency with a fine for the charge of forgery of private documents and denied the other charges.

The lawyer explained, "If he intended to buy for speculative profit, there were many better sites than this. The defendant, who has lived his life as a soccer person, was trying to build a soccer center for the development of soccer in Honam."

He added, "Although some of the land was designated as a military protection zone and park site, we thought it was possible to build the center on the remaining land excluding those parts."

Witness examination was also conducted for Min, a real estate agent who introduced the land to Ki. During cross-examination by the prosecution, he testified, "I did not know that information about a park being developed was circulating at the time, and I introduced the land to Ki believing that building a soccer center was possible. There was no intention of speculative profit."

The sentencing date is scheduled for January 27 next year.

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