Moon Heung-sik, Who Took Bribes in 'Hakdong Disaster' Redevelopment, Sentenced to 4 Years and 6 Months in Prison

Additional Fine of 970 Million Won as Well

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Moon Heung-sik (61), who acted as a broker and pocketed bribes in the Gwangju Hakdong 4 District redevelopment project where a collapse disaster occurred, was sentenced to prison.

The Gwangju District Court Criminal Division 10 (Presiding Judge Kim Jung-min) on the 28th sentenced Moon, who was indicted in custody on charges including violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act, to 4 years and 6 months in prison and a fine of 970 million won.

Moon was charged with conspiring with his acquaintance Lee (74) or acting alone to mediate the selection of redevelopment maintenance project companies such as demolition work, and receiving money and valuables from companies including Dawon ENC and Hansol Enterprise.

Moon conspired with Lee to receive 590 million won and received 700 million won alone, receiving a total of 1.29 billion won in money and valuables over 11 occasions.

Moon has shown a position denying most of his charges, and at the first trial, he claimed, "I only admit receiving 100 million won jointly with Lee among the criminal facts, and the rest are not true."

The court judged that the charge that Moon received 50 million won from Seo, the CEO of Hyochang Construction, as a reward for helping with the contract for maintenance infrastructure construction was not guilty among Moon's various charges.

This was because Seo gave inconsistent statements several times in court about the amount and circumstances of the payment, and considering the contradictory testimonies of other related parties, it was deemed not credible.

The court said, "The defendant's crime is not good because it undermines the fairness and transparency of the maintenance project and construction bid corruption can lead to poor construction."

In particular, it mentioned, "The defendant led the joint crime and seems to have taken most of the money obtained," and "He fled overseas and has been shifting responsibility to others until now."

It also explained the sentencing reason, "Despite having a prior record of being sentenced to imprisonment for violating the Attorney-at-Law Act related to housing redevelopment projects promoted in Dong-gu, Gwangju, in 2012, he committed the crime in this case again, making severe punishment inevitable."

Meanwhile, on June 9 last year, a building (5 floors above ground, 1 basement floor) under demolition in Hakdong 4 District collapsed toward the road, covering a city bus and causing 17 casualties (9 dead, 8 injured).

Moon, suspected of intervening in the selection process of the demolition company, fled overseas on June 13, four days after the disaster, but voluntarily returned after completing the 90-day visa expiration period and was arrested by the police.

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