Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers, both current and former, who had received guilty verdicts with suspended sentences at the first trial on charges of receiving cash envelopes in connection with the party's 2021 convention, were acquitted on appeal.
The Criminal Division 2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Kim Jong-ho, Director General judge) on this day acquitted Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Heo Jong-sik and former lawmakers Yoon Kwan-seok and Lim Jong-sung, who were indicted on charges including violating the Political Parties Act.
The appellate court ruled that the mobile phone recording of Lee Jung-geun, former deputy secretary-general of the Democratic Party, which served as the tip that triggered the investigation, was illegally obtained evidence and excluded its admissibility. Illegally obtained evidence is evidence collected in violation of due process, and if the court decides it cannot be used, it is excluded from the basis for determining guilt or innocence.
The case stemmed from allegations that, ahead of the Democratic Party's 2021 convention, cash envelopes were delivered to lawmakers to help elect Song Young-gil, then a candidate for party leader (now leader of the Pine Tree Party).
The backbone of the indictment is that at a gathering supporting candidate Song held on Apr. 28, 2021, in a subcommittee room of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, former lawmaker Yoon handed one cash envelope containing 3 million won to each of lawmaker Heo and former lawmaker Lim, among others.
Earlier, in Aug.–Sep. last year, the first trial sentenced lawmaker Heo and former lawmaker Lim to three months in prison, suspended for one year, and ordered each to forfeit 3 million won, and sentenced former lawmaker Yoon to nine months in prison, suspended for two years. However, the appellate court changed the conclusion by not recognizing the admissibility of the Lee Jung-geun recording presented as key evidence.
Former lawmaker Lee Sung-man, who was indicted in the same case, also had a guilty verdict at the first trial overturned on appeal after the admissibility of the Lee Jung-geun recording was rejected.
After the appellate ruling, former lawmaker Lim Jong-sung met with reporters and said, "It is impossible that cash envelopes were exchanged at the time, and I think it was a forced indictment by the prosecution," adding, "a natural result."