A former aide to Pine Tree Party leader Song Young-gil, Park Yong-su, 56, who was indicted on charges of taking illegal political funds and distributing cash envelopes at the Democratic Party of Korea convention, was also sentenced to prison on appeal.
On the 30th, the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 7 (Presiding Judge Lee Jae-kwon) sentenced Park, who was indicted on charges including violations of the Political Parties Act and the Political Funds Act, to 1 year and 2 months in prison and ordered the forfeiture of 92.4 million won. The ruling is the same as the first trial.
As in the first trial, the court found Park not guilty on the charge of receiving political funds related to the distribution of cash envelopes at the party convention. It said the audio recording files on the mobile phone of former Democratic Party of Korea deputy secretary-general Lee Jeong-geun, which prompted the investigation, could not be admitted as evidence.
The court said, "It is acknowledged that the former deputy secretary-general voluntarily submitted the mobile phone to the prosecutor," but added, "The prosecution's securing of the entire electronic information in the mobile phone constitutes illegally collected evidence and cannot be admitted."
However, the court found Park guilty of violating the Political Funds Act for having the 92.4 million won opinion poll expense, commissioned to a consulting firm during the primary, paid instead with funds from the Peace and Livelihood Research Institute ("Meoksa-yeon"), a group that supports and assists Song's political activities, and for drafting a false estimate to conceal it.
In addition, when the former deputy secretary-general was detained and indicted in 2022 and reports related to the "pro-Moon gate" continued, the first trial's finding of guilt was maintained on the charge of instigating the destruction of evidence by instructing the Meoksa-yeon secretary-general to replace all computer hard disks to prevent the discovery of related materials.
The court added, "After closely reviewing the record on the other charges, we found no error in the lower court's judgment."
Earlier, the first trial court sentenced Park to 1 year and 2 months in prison and ordered the forfeiture of 92.4 million won.
Song was also indicted on charges of taking illegal political funds in the name of donations through Meoksa-yeon and participating in the distribution of cash envelopes, and was sentenced to 2 years in prison in the first trial.
However, as with Park, the audio recording files on the former deputy secretary-general's mobile phone were deemed illegally collected evidence, and Song was acquitted of all charges related to the cash envelopes. The appellate ruling for Song is scheduled for Feb. 13.