Prosecution Seeks Prison Sentence for Chairman Park Hyeon-jong; bhc Calls It "Excessive and Unreasonable"

by Moon Hyewon

Published 19 Apr.2022 11:37(KST)

"Even if the charges are admitted, a fine is appropriate"

Park Hyun-jong, chairman of bhc, who is accused of illegally accessing the internal network of competitor BBQ to examine data, is leaving the building after the first trial held on the afternoon of March 3 last year at the Seoul Eastern District Court in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon]Regarding the prosecution's request for a one-year prison sentence for Park Hyunjong, chairman of bhc Group, on charges of illegally accessing the internal network of competitor BBQ, bhc has rebutted, stating that the prosecution's allegations lack sufficient grounds. Above all, bhc argues that the prosecution's sentencing demand is excessive, as there have been numerous cases in the past two years involving similar or more serious matters that resulted in fines.

On the 19th, bhc stated, "Chairman Park is contesting the prosecution's allegations against him on the grounds of innocence. However, even if the prosecution's allegations are acknowledged, considering the sentencing in 169 first-instance cases of the same or similar nature nationwide over the past two years, this case appears to warrant a fine as an appropriate sentence," adding, "The prosecution's sentencing demand by the Eastern District Prosecutors' Office for Chairman Park's charges is extremely excessive."

bhc explained that they conducted a comparative analysis of 84 cases nationwide over the past two years, from January 28, 2020, to January 27 of this year, where fines were imposed under the charge of 'Information and Communications Network Infringement' based on judgments that are registered on the Supreme Court's internet homepage and can be printed. They found that there were numerous cases with 'fixed' case numbers that were similar or more severe than the current case, which were initially subject to summary disposition at the prosecution stage but later resulted in fines after formal trials.

They also confirmed that the fines imposed ranged from 2 million to 5 million KRW.

Looking at specific examples of prosecution sentencing demands for violations of the Information and Communications Network Act in the past two years, in 2019, the Suwon District Court saw the prosecution request a fine of 2 million KRW for a case involving unauthorized access five times using two IDs and passwords.

Additionally, last year, the Daejeon District Court requested a fine of 2 million KRW for a case involving illegal intrusion into an office and unauthorized access to the company network four times, and the Seoul Western District Court requested a fine of 3 million KRW for unauthorized access 56 times, which led to the leakage of files containing personal information of approximately 270 employees.

Meanwhile, at the sentencing hearing held yesterday afternoon at the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Jung Won), the prosecution requested a one-year prison sentence for Chairman Park. The court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on Chairman Park on June 8 at 1:50 PM.