Accra:Seoul An appellate court has reduced the sentence of former special counsel Park Young-soo to six years in prison on bribery-related charges. This decision comes after the court shaved a year off his original sentence.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Seoul High Court also imposed a fine of 200 million won (approximately US$150,000) and ordered Park to forfeit the same amount. Park was found guilty of accepting 200 million won as campaign funds from a private developer during his bid for the head of the Korean Bar Association.
The court noted that the developer had requested Park, who was then the Woori Bank board chair, to involve the bank in discussions about a consortium for the Daejang-dong property project in Seongnam, located south of Seoul. Initially, a lower court had sentenced Park to seven years in prison for accepting 300 million won from the developer. However, the appellate court only found him guilty of accepting 200 million won, citing inconsistencies in the developer's testimony regarding the remainder of the amount.
The appellate court also upheld the lower court's decision to acquit and dismiss other charges against Park, which included allegations of his involvement in the so-called "5 billion-won club" connected to the Daejang-dong project. This group purportedly consisted of individuals who were promised or received 5 billion won each from Hwacheon Daeyu, the asset management firm investing in the project.
Park gained notoriety in 2017 when he led an investigation into a corruption scandal that involved the ousted former President Park Geun-hye.