By Lee Kyung-min
A district court sentenced Kim Yang, former head of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, to four years in prison for bribery, Monday.
The Seoul Central District Court found the grandson of Kim Koo, the most revered independence fighter against Japanese colonial rule, guilty of receiving some 1.4 billion won ($1.22 million) in return for helping a foreign defense firm win a contract with the Korean government.
He was also ordered to forfeit 1.3 billion won he made in illegal gains.
The court ruled that the contract between the defense firm and the government indicated that Kim helped the firm gain a stranglehold in the deal. It also dismissed Kim's claim that he earned his money properly for his legitimate work as a consultant.
"He emphasized his relationship with high-ranking public officials, and he received the money in an apparent exchange for exercising his influence to make the deal favorable to the firm," the court said.
Kim was indicted last July for allegedly working as a lobbyist from November 2011 until October 2014 to help senior military officials select the Anglo-Italian AW159 Wildcat, a multi-mission maritime helicopter, produced by AgustaWestland, a multinational helicopter design and manufacturing company.
The firm won the contract in 2013 over the United States Navy helicopter MH-60R. The two were the final candidates for the government project to purchase 20 multi-mission maritime helicopters to bolster maritime defense capabilities.
The company initially promised to pay a 6.5 billion won commission to Kim and first paid him a 1.3 billion won installment, according to the court. He introduced senior defense officials to key executives of the firm using the personal connections he established while working at an overseas defense firm for more than a decade.
The prosecution launched an investigation into the case last year on allegations that the helicopter's capability evaluation tests were forged with many of them failing to meet the quality requirements.
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| Kim Yang |
The Seoul Central District Court found the grandson of Kim Koo, the most revered independence fighter against Japanese colonial rule, guilty of receiving some 1.4 billion won ($1.22 million) in return for helping a foreign defense firm win a contract with the Korean government.
He was also ordered to forfeit 1.3 billion won he made in illegal gains.
The court ruled that the contract between the defense firm and the government indicated that Kim helped the firm gain a stranglehold in the deal. It also dismissed Kim's claim that he earned his money properly for his legitimate work as a consultant.
"He emphasized his relationship with high-ranking public officials, and he received the money in an apparent exchange for exercising his influence to make the deal favorable to the firm," the court said.
Kim was indicted last July for allegedly working as a lobbyist from November 2011 until October 2014 to help senior military officials select the Anglo-Italian AW159 Wildcat, a multi-mission maritime helicopter, produced by AgustaWestland, a multinational helicopter design and manufacturing company.
The firm won the contract in 2013 over the United States Navy helicopter MH-60R. The two were the final candidates for the government project to purchase 20 multi-mission maritime helicopters to bolster maritime defense capabilities.
The company initially promised to pay a 6.5 billion won commission to Kim and first paid him a 1.3 billion won installment, according to the court. He introduced senior defense officials to key executives of the firm using the personal connections he established while working at an overseas defense firm for more than a decade.
The prosecution launched an investigation into the case last year on allegations that the helicopter's capability evaluation tests were forged with many of them failing to meet the quality requirements.
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