[Invest&Law] Retrial Verdict for Former Credit Union Chairman Park Chahun on Bribery Charges to Be Delivered Next Month

Six-Year Prison Sentence in First and Second Trials
Supreme Court Overturns Some Charges and Orders Retrial

The retrial verdict for Park Chahun, former chairman of the National Credit Union Federation of Korea, who was sent to trial on charges of receiving hundreds of millions of won in bribes from executives of the federation and asset management company CEOs, will be delivered next month. The court is expected to determine the sentence again, based only on the remaining charges, excluding those for which the Supreme Court ruled in favor of acquittal.

According to legal circles on August 19, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 3 (Presiding Judges Lee Seunghan, Park Jungwoon, and Yoo Jemin) recently concluded the retrial hearings for Park, who is accused of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (including bribery), and scheduled the sentencing for September 11.

Previously, in 2023, Park was indicted on charges of receiving 100 million won in cash and having 50 million won in attorney fees paid on his behalf from Yoo Youngseok, former CEO of I-Stem Partners, through Ryu Hyuk, former CEO of the federation’s credit and insurance division. He was also charged with receiving 78 million won from full-time directors during the federation chairman election, which he used for ceremonial expenses and employee bonuses, and having 22 million won in attorney fees paid on his behalf. He also faced charges of receiving two gold seals worth 8 million won from Kim, the CEO of a credit union subsidiary.

In the first trial, Park was found guilty only of receiving 100 million won in cash and having 22 million won in attorney fees paid on his behalf. He was sentenced to six years in prison and fined 200 million won. The court also ordered the forfeiture of criminal proceeds totaling 122 million won. The first-instance court stated, "The testimony of former CEO Ryu, who said it was difficult to refuse a superior's request, and former CEO Yoo, who said he was afraid that further investment or funding would become difficult, explains relatively well their motives for providing the funds.""He was supposed to perform his duties fairly and transparently, but he accepted money and valuables based on his influence as chairman of the federation, which is a grave offense. This was one of the causes of the management crisis at the credit union."

In the second trial, the sentence was upheld, but the forfeiture was increased to 172 million won. Notably, while Park was acquitted of the charge of receiving 50 million won in attorney fees, he was found guilty of the alternative charge of demanding and promising the payment on his behalf. He was also found guilty of receiving the gold seals.

However, in April, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the Seoul High Court, ruling that some of Park's charges should be considered not guilty. At the time, the Supreme Court stated, "Even if Park demanded or promised the payment of a 50 million won legal advisory fee, the benefit would go to the third party, the lawyer. Unless he was specifically relieved of a debt or expense, it is difficult to see, by social standards, that Park directly demanded or promised to receive the benefit himself." In other words, merely demanding or promising is not sufficient for a conviction of bribery.

Regarding the gold seal charges, the court pointed out, "The seals kept at the Seoul official residence were not directly related to the criminal facts stated in the search and seizure warrant, or to acts with the same basic factual relationship," highlighting the illegality of the evidence collection. The court found no issues with the other guilty verdicts from the second trial.

Meanwhile, since being taken into custody after the first trial, Park has twice applied for bail during the second trial, but both requests were denied. The bail request in this retrial was also rejected.

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