Actor Park Sung-woong appeared in court as a witness.
Park Sung-woong appeared as a witness at the trial on April 8 at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, Seoul, for former 1st Marine Division commander Lim Seong-geun's alleged perjury and violation of the Evidence Act for testimony at the National Assembly.
The court originally intended to summon Park Sung-woong as a witness at the trial held on March 25 to conduct an examination of witnesses and confirm the closeness between former division commander Lim and former representative Lee, but when Park Sung-woong's side submitted a reason for absence through his attorney saying "it was difficult to attend due to scheduling," he was re-summoned as a witness for 4 p.m. on April 8.
Regarding allegations of lobbying to secure a pardon for former division commander Lim, Park Sung-woong appeared last September before the special prosecution as a person of interest and testified that "in 2022 I ate with former Black Pearl Invest CEO Lee Jong-ho, former division commander Lim and others at a place in Gangnam, Seoul."
Former representative Lee, considered a key close aide to Madam Kim Geon, is the figure alleged to have been involved in lobbying higher-ups to secure a pardon for former division commander Lim, who faced investigation over responsibility for the death in the line of duty of Marine Cha Sang-byeong. Former division commander Lim and former representative Lee have said they did not even know each other, but Park Sung-woong's testimony could be interpreted to mean their friendship predated the Cha Sang-byeong death case, making it likely the biggest variable in this trial.
At the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee hearing last October, former division commander Lim testified in response to lawmakers' questions asking "Actor Park Sung-woong testified that he dined with Lim Seong-geun and Lee Jong-ho; please respond to this" by saying "I have never met Lee Jong-ho. If I have never met him, how could I have met that actor?"
The special prosecution team judged that the testimony was false and referred former division commander Lim to trial on perjury charges last November.
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