SPC Chairman Heo Young-in Invited to 'Trump Inauguration'... Applies to Court for Overseas Business Trip Permission

Heo Young-in, chairman of SPC Group, has reportedly begun legal procedures to attend the inauguration ceremony of U.S. President Donald Trump.

According to the legal community and related industries on the 8th, Heo's side submitted an overseas travel permission application to the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 32 (Chief Judge Jo Seung-woo) on the same day. Since Heo was indicted and detained on charges of violating the Labor Union Act but was released on bail during the trial, he must obtain prior permission from the court to leave the country. Heo is currently a defendant in legal terms and is undergoing a non-custodial trial for this case.

Huh Young-in, Chairman of SPC Group, Yonhap News Agency

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The submission of this application reportedly came right after SPC Group issued a press release announcing Heo's invitation to President Trump's inauguration ceremony. A source familiar with SPC Group's affairs said, "Heo's side has been preparing to attend President Trump's inauguration ceremony since the day before."

It has not yet been decided whether the court will accept Heo's application. However, considering the precedent where the court approved Heo's business trip to Japan in November last year, the prevailing expectation is that it will be accepted this time as well. While Heo's trip to Japan was a company-level business trip, this trip to the U.S. also carries a national interest aspect.

Heo's trip to the U.S. is not expected to have any significant impact on the ongoing trial proceedings. Heo plans to attend the inauguration ceremony in Washington D.C. on the 21st (Korean time) and meet with members of the U.S. Congress during this period, and there are no scheduled court dates during this time. An SPC official stated, "We do not know exactly when Heo will depart and return," but added, "He plans to attend the court hearings scheduled for the 15th of this month and the 5th of next month as planned."

Some speculate that Heo's consecutive business trips may be a strategy to seek sentence reduction if found guilty. There is precedent where contributions to economic development have been recognized as grounds for sentence mitigation for businesspeople. A representative case is the 2009 case of former KT president Nam Jung-soo, who was indicted for receiving bribes related to supplier selection. The appellate court overturned the original sentence of two years imprisonment with four years probation, citing his contribution to the national telecommunications industry, and instead sentenced him to six months imprisonment with one year probation.

An anonymous lawyer in Seocho-dong said, "Although cases where companies receive sentence reductions solely for contributing to the national economy have significantly decreased, the current situation in South Korea is special," adding, "In future trials, a strategy might be employed arguing that the business trips are efforts to overcome the economic crisis and should be taken into account in sentencing." This reflects the urgent need for businesspeople to act as a bridge between Korea and the U.S. amid political turmoil such as internal unrest and impeachment proceedings ahead of the second term of the Trump administration.

Previously, Heo was indicted and detained in April last year on charges of urging about 570 union members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' Hwaseom Food Union Paris Baguette branch, a subsidiary of SPC's PB Partners, to leave the union from February 2021 to July 2022 after the union continued activities critical of management. Heo applied for bail in July last year due to health reasons, but the request was initially rejected. The reason cited for the bail request was "panic disorder."

In September last year, Heo filed another bail request citing "being 75 years old and having been detained for over five months," which the court accepted. Three months after being released on bail, Heo went on a business trip to Japan. The trip was reportedly for discussions on baking technology with a Japanese company.

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