Former Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo, who was indicted on charges including embezzling more than 300 billion won in company funds, received a suspended prison sentence on appeal. In the earlier first trial, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
According to the legal community on the 18th, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Kim Jong-ho) overturned the first-instance ruling that sentenced Park, the former chairman, to 10 years in prison on charges including violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement), and sentenced him to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years.
Unlike the first trial, the appellate court found him not guilty of embezzlement and breach of trust under the Specific Economic Crimes Act, which carry heavier penalties.
Park, the former chairman, was indicted in May 2021 on charges including embezzlement and breach of trust under the Specific Economic Crimes Act. Prosecutors said Park, aiming to regain management control, created a special-purpose company (SPC), Kumho Enterprise (now Kumho Express), in which he owned 100% of the shares, and sought to acquire equity in Kumho Industrial, the group's holding company and the parent of Asiana Airlines.
Specifically, he was accused of withdrawing 330 billion won in December 2015 from four affiliates, including Kumho Terminal, and using it to pay for the acquisition of Kumho Industrial shares held by creditors including the Korea Development Bank, and of selling 100% of the Kumho Terminal shares held by Asiana Airlines to Kumho Enterprise at an undervalued price in April 2016.
In August 2022, the first-instance court found most of the charges against the former chairman Park guilty and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. Park, who was taken into custody at that time, was released on bail the following February and has been tried on appeal without detention since.