Two former-judge attorneys indicted on charges of taking more than 200 million won in kickbacks in exchange for promising to free a detained defendant had their prison sentences finalized by the Supreme Court. They told the defendant they were close to the presiding judge in the first trial, who at the time was People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok. The Democratic Party of Korea and others said prosecutors should investigate Jang for bribery.
On the 30th, the Supreme Court's Third Division (presiding Justice Lee Heung-gu) sentenced Attorney A, 63, indicted for violating the Attorney‑at‑Law Act, to one year in prison and ordered approximately 80 million won in forfeiture. It also sentenced B, 59, to one year and six months in prison on the same charge and ordered 120 million won in forfeiture.
A and B are known to be classmates from the Judicial Research and Training Institute. The two reportedly came to know C around Dec. 2019, after C was detained and indicted on charges including bid-rigging. They told C's older sister, "We will lobby the presiding judge in charge so that C can be released on bail, etc.," and, in return, were found to have received 220 million won from the sister.
The two were said not to have signed a retainer agreement with C. Regarding this, the first trial court said, "It can be seen that the two did not themselves consider this case to have been properly retained, or at least intended to conceal the fact of receiving the relevant amount."
In the first trial, A was sentenced to eight months in prison and a forfeiture of 80 million won, and B was sentenced to one year in prison and a forfeiture of 120 million won. The second trial imposed heavier terms of one year and one year and six months in prison. The forfeiture orders were the same as in the first trial. The second trial court said, "The defendants' conduct is a serious crime that shakes the public's trust in the judiciary, the last bastion of the rule of law," adding, "The original sentences are unduly lenient."
It also said, "They capitalized on the client's baseless expectation that career experience serving as a judge, etc., would have a decisive impact on the case's outcome and received a large sum," adding, "Such behavior gives most people a sense of frustration and loss that 'money buys innocence, poverty brings guilt.'"
The Supreme Court also found the second trial's judgment to be correct.
Meanwhile, the presiding judge in C's first trial was People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok, who was a senior judge at the Gwangju District Court. Jang served as a judge from the 33rd class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, joined the People Power Party in Jun. 2022, ran in the by-election for National Assembly member in Boryeong-si and Seocheon-gun, South Chungcheong Province, and was elected.
Jang underwent a prosecution investigation in connection with the case but was not indicted. At the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit that day, the Democratic Party of Korea argued that Jang granted C's bail request a day before quitting as a judge. It also said Jang held private gatherings such as golf meetings with B and others.
That day, lawmaker Park Eun-jung of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party asked Minister Jeong Seong-ho, "Shouldn't an investigation into bribery allegations against Jang proceed?" Minister Jeong said, "If there was an exchange of money or valuables with quid pro quo, it would naturally constitute a crime," adding, "I have not reviewed the Supreme Court ruling in detail, but if it provides a clue to a crime, investigative authorities should conduct an investigation."