Former Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim Seong-tae, Accused of Illegal North Korea Remittance, Requests Bail in Court

Former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Sung-tae [Image source=Yonhap News]

Former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae, who was indicted and detained on charges including illegal remittance to North Korea, is reported to have filed a bail request with the court.

According to the legal community on the 2nd, Kim submitted a bail application to the Criminal Division 11 of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Shin Jin-woo), which is handling his trial, on the 20th of last month. Kim is approaching the expiration of his court detention period on the 3rd of next month. With about a month left until the detention period expires, it is interpreted that he intends to continue the remaining trial while not in custody.

Under the Criminal Procedure Act, the maximum detention period for a defendant indicted while in custody is six months. However, Kim was initially detained and indicted on February 3 of last year, and after being additionally indicted in July of the same year on embezzlement charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, a detention warrant was reissued.

The court plans to decide whether to grant bail after reviewing opinions from the defense and prosecution.

Kim was indicted and detained on charges of embezzling 53.8 billion KRW from five unlisted companies (paper companies) established under the names of Ssangbangwool Group executives and employees, and of causing the group’s affiliates to improperly provide about 1.1 billion KRW in support (breach of trust). He is also charged with violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act by paying 5 million USD for North Korea smart farm support projects in Gyeonggi Province in 2019 and 3 million USD for the then-Governor of Gyeonggi Province Lee Jae-myung’s visit to North Korea.

Additionally, Kim is charged with violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes by causing Ssangbangwool to purchase Vivian shares held by Kwanglim at 7.8 billion KRW above market price in December 2020, thereby giving Kwanglim an unfair benefit.

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