Jeong Jong-seon, Former High School Football Federation President, Sentenced for Embezzlement; Acquitted of Sexual Assault

Jeong Jong-seon, former president of the High School Football Federation, who was indicted on charges including embezzlement of public funds, bribery, and quasi-rape during his tenure as a high school soccer coach, was sentenced by the Supreme Court to 1 year in prison with a 2-year probation for embezzlement. The other charges were acquitted.

Jeong Jong-seon, former president of the Korea High School Football Federation Photo by Yonhap News

Jeong, a former national football team player, served as the soccer coach at Seoul Eonnam High School and as president of the High School Football Federation. From February 2015, during his four-year tenure as Eonnam High School coach, he was indicted for embezzling 220 million KRW from parents under the pretext of football team operating expenses (embezzlement in the course of duty) and for receiving a total of 40 million KRW in five installments of 8 million KRW each from parents as performance bonuses (violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act).

He was also indicted on charges of forcibly molesting or quasi-raping a parent in 2016. After his indictment, Jeong was permanently banned by the Korea Football Association in 2019.

According to the legal community on the 11th, the Supreme Court’s First Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) upheld the lower court’s ruling in Jeong’s appeal, recognizing the embezzlement of 100 million KRW from football team operating funds and sentencing him to 1 year in prison with 2 years probation, along with 120 hours of community service.

The first trial initially found him guilty only of bribery related to performance bonuses (violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act), sentencing him to a fine of 3 million KRW and ordering the confiscation of 40 million KRW. However, the second trial differed, ruling guilty on the embezzlement charge that the first trial had acquitted, stating that it was proven he personally misappropriated 100 million KRW.

Conversely, the second trial acquitted him of the bribery charges that the first trial had found guilty, reasoning that since Jeong received performance bonuses divided among several parents, the amount per individual did not exceed the legal limit of 1 million KRW per person.

Regarding the quasi-rape charge, both the first and second trial courts acquitted him due to inconsistent statements from the accuser and lack of evidence. The Supreme Court affirmed the second trial’s decision as correct.

The court found that Jeong collected money from parents under various pretexts such as special lesson fees, winter training fees, snack fees, and freshman welcome fees, embezzling a significant portion of these funds. It also noted that parents could not raise objections to him, who controlled their children’s playing time and university admissions.

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