The acquittal was finalized for Dr. Yang Seung-oh (70) and others who were indicted on charges of raising "military service corruption allegations" against Park Won-soon's son, Ju-shin.
The Supreme Court's First Division (presiding Justice Ma Yong-ju) on the 25th upheld the lower court ruling that acquitted Dr. Yang, who was brought to trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.
Five other defendants were also acquitted on charges of announcing false information and slandering a candidate under the Public Official Election Act. One defendant was fined 700,000 won for distributing documents in a manner not prescribed by the election law.
The Supreme Court maintained the lower court's finding that it was difficult to recognize an awareness of falsity because there was sufficient room for the defendants to have suspicions.
Ju-shin (41) entered the Air Force boot camp in Aug. 2011 but returned home in Sept. of the same year due to thigh pain. In a reexamination, he was diagnosed with "intervertebral disc herniation" (a disc) and was assigned to serve as a public service worker.
Park, the former mayor, was elected in the Seoul mayoral by-election in Oct. 2011. Allegations of military service corruption involving Ju-shin emerged in 2012. In Feb. 2012, Ju-shin underwent a physical examination at Severance Hospital and had an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan.
Dr. Yang graduated from Seoul National University College of Medicine and had served as head of radiology at the Dongnam Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences since 2010. After the physical examination, Dr. Yang claimed that Ju-shin's MRI images had been swapped and reported Ju-shin on suspicion of violating the Military Service Act. Prosecutors dismissed the case without charges.
Dr. Yang and others continued to claim that Ju-shin committed military service corruption. They were later indicted without detention on one count of announcing false information to unseat the former mayor in the June 2014 local elections.
In Feb. 2016, the first trial found the defendants guilty of violating the Public Official Election Act and imposed fines ranging from 7 million to 15 million won. The first trial court said, "No proxy was involved in the medical imaging (MRI) scan, and it is clear that the Severance public verification was conducted by the person himself," finding that the military service corruption allegations were not true. The court also rejected the defendants' claim that the teeth and ear shapes of the subject in the MRI images differed from those of Ju-shin.
In the second trial, handed down in Feb. of this year, 10 years after the first verdict, Dr. Yang was acquitted. The appellate court said, "It appears likely that Dr. Yang and others believed their suspicions to be true, and it seems the suspicions had not been resolved."
The appellate court pointed out that those who raised the suspicions, including Dr. Yang, did not take part when Ju-shin underwent the public physical examination, adding, "Since the MRI image disclosure proceeded without the people who raised the suspicions, it is difficult to confirm whether the subject was Park Ju-shin."
It went on to find that "until whether a proxy was involved is confirmed through investigation and trial, the defendant would likely contend that the existing suspicions have not been resolved."
The prosecutor contested the ruling, but the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, saying, "There is no misunderstanding of legal principles in the lower court's judgment."
Ju-shin entered the physics department at Hanyang University in 2003 and in 2006 enrolled in the architecture department at Korea University, from which he graduated. After graduating from Korea University in Feb. 2011, he earned a master's in architecture from Metropolitan University in London, United Kingdom, and in Feb. 2017 completed a master's in architecture with Royal Institute of British Architects Part 2 certification. He is currently an assistant professor at Korea University.