Former SSANGBANGWOOL Group Chairman Kim Sung-tae received a dismissal of indictment in the first trial on a third-party bribery charge related to the $8 million remittance to North Korea.
The 11th Criminal Division of the Suwon District Court (Presiding Judge Song Byung-hoon) on the 12th dismissed the indictment against former Chairman Kim, who was charged with offering bribes and other offenses.
Former Chairman Kim was arrested and indicted on charges including violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act for allegedly paying on behalf of the North $5 million for Gyeonggi Province's North Korea smart farm support project in 2019 and $3 million for then-Gyeonggi Governor President Lee Jae-myung's trip to North Korea expense.
For this charge, in July 2024, in the first trial, former Chairman Kim was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison and 1 year in prison suspended for 2 years (violation of the Political Funds Act). The appeal trial is underway.
Immediately after the first-trial ruling, prosecutors additionally indicted former Chairman Kim, viewing SSANGBANGWOOL's remittance to the North as a third-party bribe to President Lee and others. The court said this could constitute "double jeopardy." Under the Criminal Procedure Act, if an indictment is filed again for a case that has already been indicted (double jeopardy), the court must dismiss the indictment.
The court said, "This case is that the defendant offered a bribe," adding, "The facts charged in the (foreign exchange violation) case, the time and place of the offense, and the payment counterparty are all the same." It continued, "This indictment is determined to have been filed again for an already indicted case."