'Not Guilty of Bribery' Former Prosecutor General Jin Gyeong-jun Loses Second Trial in Disciplinary Fine Cancellation Lawsuit

Former Prosecutor Jin Kyung-jun is appearing at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul on July 14, 2016.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Former Prosecutor Jin Kyung-jun, who was acquitted after being tried on bribery charges and subsequently filed an administrative lawsuit to cancel the disciplinary surcharge, lost again in the second trial following the first trial.

On the afternoon of the 20th, the Seoul High Court Administrative Division 9-2 (Presiding Judge Kim Seung-joo, Judges Jo Chan-young and Kang Moon-kyung) ruled against Jin in the appeal trial of the lawsuit he filed against the Minister of Justice to nullify the disciplinary surcharge, upholding the first trial's decision.

Earlier, shortly after being indicted on bribery charges in August 2016, Jin was dismissed and imposed a disciplinary surcharge of 10.15 million won. He was accused of receiving 425 million won to purchase unlisted shares from the late Kim Jung-ju, founder of Nexon, buying 10,000 shares, and the following year exchanging them for 8,537 shares of Nexon Japan, making a profit of around 12 billion won (bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes).

However, after being acquitted of the bribery charges, Jin filed an administrative lawsuit requesting the cancellation of the disciplinary surcharge.

The first trial ruled against the plaintiff. The court stated, "Disciplinary penalties and criminal penalties differ in their basis, purpose, content, and subject, so they can be judged differently," and added, "It is not necessary for the disciplinary reason to be recognized as guilty in a criminal trial, and even if acquitted, it does not affect the recognition of disciplinary reasons." "The Prosecutors' Disciplinary Act stipulates that if the disciplinary reason is the acceptance of money or valuables, a disciplinary surcharge of up to five times the amount received can be imposed," and "It is sufficient that money or valuables were received; it is not necessary for it to be related to official duties to constitute a disciplinary reason."

Meanwhile, Jin was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of third-party bribery for giving preferential contracts worth around 14.7 billion won to his brother-in-law's cleaning service company through former Korean Air Vice President Seo in 2010.

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