Park Young-soo, Former Special Prosecutor, Appears at First Trial: "Sorry for My Misconduct"

Former Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo (71), who was indicted on charges of receiving support such as a Porsche rental car from a 'fake fisheries businessman,' appeared at his first trial and stated, "I sincerely apologize for causing concern to the public due to my improper conduct."

Former Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo, who was indicted in the 'Fake Fisheries Businessman Bribery' case, is attending a trial held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 11th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

On the morning of the 11th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 33 (Presiding Judge Kim Dong-hyun) held the first trial of former Special Prosecutor Park, who was indicted on charges of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

During his appearance at the court, former Special Prosecutor Park told reporters, "I will explain everything in detail in court," and apologized for causing concern. Sitting in the defendant's seat, Park did not speak in court that day. Instead, his lawyer denied the charges, stating, "The Improper Solicitation and Graft Act cannot be applied to a private individual like the special prosecutor who is not a public official, and the vehicle usage fees were passed on to a junior lawyer."

Earlier, former Special Prosecutor Park was referred to trial last November on charges of receiving a Porsche rental car worth 2.5 million won free of charge from Kim (44), who impersonated a fisheries businessman, and receiving seafood worth 860,000 won three times, totaling about 3.36 million won. The violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act is established if a person receives or demands money or valuables exceeding 1 million won once or a total of 3 million won per fiscal year from the same person.

Kim and others indicted alongside him for receiving valuables, including current Deputy Chief Prosecutor A, former daily newspaper editorial writer B, and former broadcasting anchor C, mostly denied the charges through their lawyers.

Former Special Prosecutor Park was known as the "most successful special prosecutor" for handling the Park Geun-hye administration's state manipulation case, but when such allegations surfaced in July 2021, he resigned in disgrace after 4 years and 7 months since the special prosecution team was launched.

Meanwhile, former Special Prosecutor Park appeared in court for the first time in 12 days since he underwent a warrant hearing on the so-called '50 Billion Club' allegations on the 29th of last month. The arrest warrant was dismissed at that time.

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