Gwak Sang-do, accused of '5 billion won retirement pay for son,' applies for bail in court

Former People Power Party lawmaker Gwak Sang-do

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Former People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Sang-do (63), accused of favoring developers of the Daejang-dong project and receiving bribes through his son, has applied for bail at the court.

According to the legal community on the 26th, former lawmaker Kwak filed a bail application on the 21st with the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 (Chief Judge Lee Joon-cheol). Kwak, who was detained and indicted on February 22, will reach the expiration of his first trial detention period at midnight on the 22nd of next month.

Earlier, Kwak’s legal team stated at a previous hearing, "The defendant’s detention period has expired, so we will request bail."

Kwak was prosecuted on charges of exerting influence on Hana Financial Group at the request of Mr. Kim when the Hana Bank consortium, which Hwacheon Daeyu participated in during the early stages of the Daejang-dong development project in 2015, was on the verge of collapse. Prosecutors view that in return, his son Byung-chae, who worked at Hwacheon Daeyu for about six years, received 5 billion KRW as severance pay and about 500 million KRW in existing loans.

He is also accused of receiving illegal political funds amounting to 50 million KRW from lawyer Nam in 2016, when he was elected as a member of the National Assembly in the 20th general election.

Kwak’s next trial is scheduled for the 27th, where Byung-chae is expected to appear again as a witness. Byung-chae claims that the money he received from Hwacheon Daeyu was a consolation payment due to his deteriorating health and that he did not inform his father of this at the time.

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