'Bribery' Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association President Suspended from Duty... Vice President Acting System

Park Cha-hoon, President of the National Credit Union Federation of Korea
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Park Cha-hoon, Chairman of the Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association, has been indicted on charges of receiving money and valuables from asset management company representatives, and the Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association is expected to be operated under the acting leadership of Vice Chairman Kim In.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 24th, if the chairman of the Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association is indicted, the Minister of the Interior and Safety can order the suspension of the chairman's duties. The ministry plans to immediately order the suspension of duties after confirming that the indictment has been filed with the court.

If the chairman is suspended from duty, according to the regulations on the acting duties of the Saemaeul Geumgo chairman, Vice Chairman Kim In, who currently serves as the chairman of Namdaemun Saemaeul Geumgo, will take over as acting chairman.

Saemaeul Geumgo has recently faced adverse conditions, including a bank run (massive withdrawal of deposits) crisis, compounded by Chairman Park's legal risks. Amid these ongoing internal and external challenges, the Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association previously established the 'Saemaeul Geumgo Management Innovation Committee,' composed of external experts and Saemaeul Geumgo directors, to enhance management innovation.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Division 5 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Hae-kyung) and Criminal Division 6 (Chief Prosecutor Seo Hyun-wook) of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office announced on the same day that they have indicted Chairman Park without detention on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (including bribery).

The prosecution alleges that from March 2021 to April of this year, Chairman Park received 100 million won in cash from the representative of an asset management company that attracted investment funds from the Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association and had 50 million won in attorney fees paid on his behalf. Chairman Park is also accused of receiving 78 million won in cash and 22 million won in attorney fees from three full-time directors of the Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association under the pretext of organizational management expenses, as well as receiving two gold seals worth approximately 8 million won from a subsidiary CEO as a reward for appointment.

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