[2023 Major Trials] ① Court Punished Corrupt Politicians... Constitutional Court Showed Presence in Impeachment and Jurisdiction Disputes

Court Issues First Trial Verdict on Cho Kuk Case and Ulsan Mayor Election Interference
Constitutional Court Dismisses Lee Sang-min's Impeachment... 'Prosecutor's Authority Reform' Jurisdiction Dispute Dismissed

Editor's NoteIn 2023, the courts and the Constitutional Court, despite criticism for delaying trials, concluded sensitive cases that had been under deliberation for a long time. Even with a prolonged vacancy in the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the judiciary remained steady and maintained a consistent pace in delivering verdicts on various cases. While some rulings faced criticism for being somewhat distant from public sentiment, others decisively punished criminals with refreshing clarity. This report covers important cases judged or currently underway in the courts and the Constitutional Court throughout the year, divided into three parts by politics, economy, and issues.

This year, the courts experienced for the first time in 30 years a situation where a Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee failed to pass the National Assembly. Nevertheless, during the approximately 70-day vacancy in the Chief Justice position, the courts drew attention by delivering verdicts on politically charged cases and various cases that attracted public interest.

With several judicial policies changing under Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae's leadership, significant changes in trials and judicial administration are expected. The court's year will conclude with the end of the winter recess starting in the last week of this month.

‘Political Cases’ Decided After Lengthy Deliberations… Guilty Verdicts for Figures from the Moon Jae-in Administration

The courts began the year in January by delivering verdicts on politically sensitive cases. On January 27, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25-2 (Presiding Judges Park Jeong-je, Park Sa-rang, Park Jeong-gil) sentenced Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Education of Seoul, to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 2-year probation for charges including abuse of power and violation of the State Public Officials Act. In a recent appellate trial, the prosecution sought a 2-year prison sentence for Superintendent Cho.

The courts also attracted attention with rulings involving figures from the Moon Jae-in administration and opposition politicians. Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, accused of admission fraud involving his children, was sentenced to 2 years in prison in the first trial on February 3 after over three years of investigation and trial.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21-1 (Presiding Judge Ma Seong-young) found most charges related to admission fraud involving his children to be guilty. The court stated, "The admission fraud was committed repeatedly over several years by abusing the position of a university professor. The motive and nature of the crime are reprehensible, and it severely undermined public trust in the fairness of the admission system, warranting a heavy sentence."

Lee Jeong-geun, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party, who was prosecuted for receiving a bribe of 1 billion KRW from a businessman, was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison in the first trial on April 12.

Lee Sang-jik, former Democratic Party lawmaker, was sentenced to 6 years in prison on April 27 after being convicted of breach of trust and embezzlement related to Eastar Jet. Choi Kang-wook, former Democratic Party lawmaker, who was prosecuted for issuing a false internship certificate to Cho Kuk's son, lost his seat after the Supreme Court confirmed his sentence of 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation on September 18. Yoon Mi-hyang, an independent lawmaker accused of misappropriating donations to the Justice and Memory Foundation (Jeong-ui-yeon), was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation in the appellate trial held on September 20, resulting in loss of her seat.

After 3 years and 10 months since prosecution, the first trial verdict in the 'Ulsan mayoral election interference' case was delivered. On November 29, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21-3 (Presiding Judges Kim Mi-kyung, Huh Kyung-moo, Kim Jeong-gon) recognized that the Moon Jae-in administration's Blue House interfered in the Ulsan mayoral election and sentenced former Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho and Democratic Party lawmaker Hwang Un-ha, accused of orchestrating the so-called 'directed investigation,' to 3 years in prison.

Additionally, former Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Baek Won-woo was sentenced to 2 years in prison, former Anti-Corruption Secretary Park Hyung-cheol received 1 year in prison with 2 years probation, and former administrative officer Moon Mo from the Civil Affairs Office was sentenced to 10 months in prison with 2 years probation.

Kim Yong, former Deputy Director of the Democratic Research Institute and a close aide to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, who was prosecuted for receiving illegal election funds and bribes from a private developer involved in the Daejang-dong development project, was sentenced to prison and detained in court. On November 30, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 23 (Presiding Judge Jo Byung-gu) sentenced Kim to 5 years in prison for violating the Political Funds Act and bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and detained him in court.

This ruling is the court's first judgment related to the Daejang-dong development corruption case. Since the court recognized the credibility of testimony from Yoo Dong-gyu, former Planning Director of Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, who was deeply involved in the project, this verdict is expected to significantly impact Lee Jae-myung's related trials.

Rulings Sparked ‘Special Prosecutor’... 50 Billion Club & Deutsche Motors Stock Manipulation

The Daejang-dong development project involving Lee Jae-myung and the stock manipulation case of Deutsche Motors, in which allegations were raised against Kim Geon-hee, drew criticism from the political sphere as the courts handed down lighter-than-expected sentences.

Regarding the so-called '50 Billion Club' allegations, where private developers allegedly received 5 billion KRW during the Daejang-dong development, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 22 (Presiding Judge Lee Jun-cheol) on February 8 fined former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do 8 million KRW for violating the Political Funds Act. The court ruled that the 5 billion KRW performance bonus received by Kwak's son, Byung-chae, could not be recognized as a bribe, acquitting Kwak of bribery charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

In the 'Deutsche Motors stock manipulation' case, former Deutsche Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo was sentenced on February 10 in the first trial to 2 years in prison with a 3-year probation and fined 300 million KRW.

Following these rulings, opposition parties criticized the prosecution for 'lenient investigations.' Even within the ruling party, the verdict on the 50 Billion Club allegations was criticized as unacceptable. Regarding the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation allegations, the opposition, led by the Democratic Party, is likely to push for the passage of a special prosecutor bill at the National Assembly plenary session on the 28th.

First ‘Minister Impeachment’ in Constitutional History… Decision on the ‘Complete Prosecution Power Stripping’ Law Dispute

This year, the Constitutional Court judged for the first time in constitutional history whether to impeach a minister. On July 25, the Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed the impeachment trial request against Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Interior and Safety, who was impeached over responsibility for the Itaewon tragedy. The court ruled regardless of the political leanings of the justices, stating, "The government's failure to develop integrated response capabilities for large-scale disasters was a comprehensive factor, and responsibility cannot be attributed to Minister Lee."

Additionally, on March 23, the Constitutional Court dismissed a dispute over authority filed by the People Power Party lawmakers regarding the passage of the 'Complete Prosecution Power Stripping' (Geomsu Wanbak) law, which was led by the Democratic Party last year. The court acknowledged that the authority of the opposition lawmakers was partially infringed during the legislative process but ruled that the proclamation of the bill's passage was not invalid due to significant defects.

Although four justices believed that the authority of People Power Party lawmakers, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon, and prosecutors was infringed and that the proclamation of the bill's passage in the plenary session was invalid, the majority of justices (five) did not agree, so the court's official opinion upheld the validity of the amended Prosecutors' Office Act and amended Criminal Procedure Act.

The Constitutional Court also ruled that the direct referral of the Yellow Envelope Act and the Broadcasting Three Acts to the plenary session was lawful. On October 26, in a dispute over authority filed by People Power Party members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee against the Chairperson of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee and the Speaker of the National Assembly, the court unanimously dismissed the claim regarding the Speaker's proclamation of the bill's passage and dismissed the claim regarding the Committee Chairperson's request to refer the bill to the plenary session by a 5 (dismissal) to 4 (acceptance) vote.

On the same day, a dispute over authority filed by People Power Party members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee against the Chairperson of the Environment and Labor Committee and the Speaker of the National Assembly was unanimously dismissed by the court.

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