Ihwaeok Lee, Chairman of DL Group, Fined Again in 2nd Trial for Unfair Support to Private Company

Lee Hae-wook, Chairman of DL, is attending the appellate trial sentencing hearing for 'unfair support to affiliates' held on the morning of the 3rd at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Lee Haewook, chairman of DL Group, who was prosecuted for unfairly supporting group affiliates, was sentenced to a fine again in the appellate court.

On the 3rd, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Appeal Division 4-3 (Presiding Judges Cha Eun-kyung, Yang Ji-jung, Jeon Yeon-sook) sentenced Chairman Lee, who was indicted for violating the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, to a fine of 200 million won, the same as in the first trial. The DL Group and Glad Hotel & Resort corporations, which were indicted together, were also fined 50 million won and 30 million won respectively, as in the first trial.

Earlier, Chairman Lee was prosecuted on charges of violating the Fair Trade Act by transferring the trademark rights of the group’s hotel brand 'Glad' (GLAD) to APD, a company wholly owned by him and his son, and allowing the subsidiary Ora Tourism (currently Glad Hotel & Resort) to use it. There is also a charge that Ora Tourism paid approximately 3.1 billion won in fees to APD under the name of brand usage rights.

The Fair Trade Commission viewed the fees paid by Ora Tourism to APD as excessively high and considered it an 'unfair provision of benefits to related parties' under the Fair Trade Act. In May 2019, it reported Chairman Lee and related companies to the prosecution. After receiving the FTC’s report and reviewing the case, the prosecution indicted Chairman Lee and others in December of the same year.

In the first trial, the court found all charges against Chairman Lee guilty but sentenced him to a fine of 200 million won, which was lower than the prosecution’s demand. At the sentencing hearing, the prosecution had requested a prison sentence of 1 year and 6 months. Meanwhile, Chairman Lee has maintained his innocence.

After the first trial verdict, Chairman Lee’s side appealed, stating that it was to clarify the truth by proving that there was no illegal act. The prosecution also appealed, citing unfair sentencing, saying, "The first trial recognized all charges including violation of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act as guilty but sentenced a fine instead of imprisonment."

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