Supreme Court Confirms Not Guilty Verdict for Min Seon-sik, YBM Chairman, in Case of Using Tens of Billions of School Funds

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Min Seon-sik, chairman of YBM Holdings, who was indicted for using tens of billions of won of school funds for purposes such as loan repayment, has been acquitted.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) announced on the 28th that it upheld the original court ruling that acquitted Chairman Min in the retrial for violation of the Private School Act.

Chairman Min, who served as the chairman of the Korea Foreign School Seoul and Pangyo campuses, was indicted for using approximately 7 billion won of school funds from February 2012 to August 2016 for other purposes such as his alma mater's development fund or loan repayment (violation of the Private School Act).

He was also charged with violating the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for failing to obtain approval from the education authorities despite the change of founder after his maternal aunt, who was listed as the founder of the Seoul and Pangyo campuses, resigned from the board.

The first trial recognized all charges against Chairman Min as guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison. The second trial found him guilty of violating the Private School Act but acquitted him of violating the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, stating there was no evidence of a change in the founder of the Korea Foreign School campuses, and reduced the sentence to 10 months in prison.

However, the Supreme Court (then presiding Justice Park Sang-ok) overturned the second trial ruling, stating that although Chairman Min was the de facto manager, he was not legally approved and therefore was not a "private school manager." Thus, the Private School Act did not apply, and the violation charge could not be applied.

In January of this year, the retrial court acquitted Chairman Min, and the Supreme Court confirmed the retrial court's judgment.

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