Special Prosecutor Who Investigated Daejang-dong Case Receives 300 Million Won Himself, Sentenced to 6 Years

Appeals Court Sentences Former Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo to 6 Years in Prison

Former Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo has been sentenced to six years in prison at his appeals trial. On the 21st, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 15-2 (Presiding Judge Lee Hee-jun) finalized a sentence one year shorter than his first-trial term for the former special prosecutor, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. The man who led the investigation into the 'Daejang-dong bribery scandal' now finds his fortunes reversed in the courtroom.

The charge against the former special prosecutor was that he received 300 million won in campaign funds from attorney Nam Wook during the 2015 Korean Bar Association presidential election. Because the bar association presidential election is directly tied to the interests of the lawyer market, the exchange of such a large sum of money is seen as a case that exposed questions of fairness in the legal community. The court punished him for violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes rather than bribery, but maintained a prison sentence, which is interpreted as a reflection of how seriously the court weighed the scale and circumstances of the money received.

The Changed Sentence from the First Trial and Its Significance

The fact that the appeals court reduced the sentence by one year compared to the first trial is noteworthy. While a detailed assessment of the reasons for the reduction requires reviewing the full court ruling, even with the reduction, six years in prison still constitutes a heavy sentence. The court's decision to maintain a prison term for the elderly defendant suggests it fully upheld the core of the charges. Even if some of the allegations are reassessed in a higher court, it can be interpreted that the fundamental responsibility for accepting the money remains unchanged.

This case carries an ironic structure: the special prosecutor who was a key figure in the Daejang-dong development corruption investigation himself faced trial on charges of taking money. The fact that someone with investigative authority became the subject of scrutiny by power was confirmed through a public trial, which reads as a signal that the judiciary is determining criminal responsibility without leniency toward particular positions.

The Remaining Task for Trust in the Legal Community

As the ruling has not been finalized, the former special prosecutor's side still has the option of filing an appeal to the Supreme Court. The sentence or the scope of charges recognized could be adjusted again at the Supreme Court. However, with a prison sentence upheld through the appeals stage, the prevailing view is that the broad framework of the guilty verdict is unlikely to be overturned. In that this ruling serves as a judicial warning about the practice of exchanging money surrounding bar association presidential elections, the verdict is expected to influence election culture within the legal community as well. How the specific amount of 300 million won factored into the court's sentencing decision will be revealed when the full ruling is made public.