Ex-chairman of Ssangbangwool gets 2 1/2 years in prison for North Korea money transfer

Kim Seong-tae was handed a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for transfering money to North Korea on behalf of the Gyeonggi provincial government.

Kim Seong-tae, the former chairman of Ssangbangwool Group (SBW), speaks to reporters in front of the Suwon District Court in Yeongtong District, Suwon, Gyeonggi, after his trial on Friday. On the same day, he was handed a prison sentence of two and a half years for transferring payments totaling $8 million to North Korea on behalf of the Gyeonggi provincial government in 2019. [YONHAP]

Kim Seong-tae, the former chairman of Ssangbangwool Group (SBW), was sentenced on Friday to two and a half years in prison by the Suwon District Court on charges of transferring illegal payments to North Korea on behalf of the Gyeonggi provincial government in 2019.

Prosecutors had sought a three-and-a-half-year sentence for Kim in May.

Of the $8 million at the center of the case, the court accepted that approximately $3 million delivered to the North constituted illegal overseas payments, the same amount they recognized in a ruling against former Gyeonggi Vice Gov. Lee Hwa-young last month.

The court noted that Kim's crime has "harmed trust in the transparency of public officials' duties that cannot be bought" and has "seriously undermined the legislative intent of the Political Funds Act."

The court added that Kim's actions are to be “highly criticized” as they caused diplomatic and security issues by transferring large sums of money to North Korea. However, they did not decide to detain Kim as he had admitted to most of the allegations and the destruction of evidence was not deemed to be a concern.

Kim, who was arrested and indicted in February of last year, was released on bail in January. He was apprehended in Thailand last January after eight months on the lam.

After the court's ruling, the former SBW chairman told local reporters that he would discuss an appeal with his attorney.

Kim’s sentencing came a month after the Suwon District Court handed the former Gyeonggi vice governor a nine-and-a-half-year prison sentence. The former deputy governor accepted illegal payments from SBW on behalf of Democratic Party (DP) Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the provincial governor at the time, in return for guaranteeing the company’s involvement in potential inter-Korean projects by the Gyeonggi government.

According to the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, which is handling the case, $5 million was earmarked for an agricultural assistance project in the North by Gyeonggi, while the remaining amount was to gain favor with Pyongyang for a potential visit by the then-governor, who served in the position until 2021.

Five days after the former deputy governor was convicted last month, the prosecution indicted DP Rep. Lee, charging him with third-party bribery and violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act by asking SBW to pay a total of $8 million to North Korea via his deputy at the time.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]