By Chung Ah-young
The Supreme Court sent the ruling that found Rep. Park Jie-won guilty on bribery charges back to the Seoul High Court, Thursday. The 74-year-old independent lawmaker, previously sentenced to a one-year prison term suspended for two years, will retain his parliamentary seat.
The top court ordered the high court to review his bribery charges, citing unreliable testimonies of the alleged bribers.
Previously, the Seoul High Court found him guilty of accepting 30 million won in 2010 as a kickback from Oh Moon-cheol, former head of Bohae Savings Bank, overturning a lower court ruling that found him not guilty.
"The lower court ruling, which did not recognize the reliability of Oh's testimony, was more reasonable," a judge of the top court said.
"Oh's testimony lacks credibility as a whole as it conflicts with objective facts from his other testimony on bribery," the judge said.
Park was indicted on charges of taking a total of 80 million won in kickbacks from several ailing savings banks in return for influence-peddling between 2008 and 2011.
Park was suspected of taking 30 million won in bribes from Oh in 2010 in return for helping the bank avoid investigation by prosecutors.
Park was also accused of receiving 20 million won in illegal political funds from former Solomon Savings Bank CEO Lim Suk in 2008.
The political heavyweight was also suspected of taking 30 million won from Lim Kun-woo, former chairman of Bohae Brewery and a major shareholder in the savings bank, in return for having the Financial Supervisory Commission postpone its management evaluations of the troubled lender's solvency in 2011. The lender was absorbed into Yes Savings Bank.
In a separate case, Park was indicted in 2003 on charges of taking slush funds from Hyundai Group before the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000 but was cleared of the charges by the Supreme Court.
He was also sentenced to three years in jail for receiving kickbacks from some conglomerates but pardoned in 2006 while serving his sentence.
Park defected from the main opposition Minjoo Parity of Korea in January and declared that he will remain an independent lawmaker. Park, a three-term legislator, served under former President Kim Dae-jung as chief of staff and culture minister.
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| Rep. Park Jie-won smiles in front of the Supreme Court in southern Seoul, Thursday, after the top court acquitted him of bribery charges. / Yonhap |
The top court ordered the high court to review his bribery charges, citing unreliable testimonies of the alleged bribers.
Previously, the Seoul High Court found him guilty of accepting 30 million won in 2010 as a kickback from Oh Moon-cheol, former head of Bohae Savings Bank, overturning a lower court ruling that found him not guilty.
"The lower court ruling, which did not recognize the reliability of Oh's testimony, was more reasonable," a judge of the top court said.
"Oh's testimony lacks credibility as a whole as it conflicts with objective facts from his other testimony on bribery," the judge said.
Park was indicted on charges of taking a total of 80 million won in kickbacks from several ailing savings banks in return for influence-peddling between 2008 and 2011.
Park was suspected of taking 30 million won in bribes from Oh in 2010 in return for helping the bank avoid investigation by prosecutors.
Park was also accused of receiving 20 million won in illegal political funds from former Solomon Savings Bank CEO Lim Suk in 2008.
The political heavyweight was also suspected of taking 30 million won from Lim Kun-woo, former chairman of Bohae Brewery and a major shareholder in the savings bank, in return for having the Financial Supervisory Commission postpone its management evaluations of the troubled lender's solvency in 2011. The lender was absorbed into Yes Savings Bank.
In a separate case, Park was indicted in 2003 on charges of taking slush funds from Hyundai Group before the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000 but was cleared of the charges by the Supreme Court.
He was also sentenced to three years in jail for receiving kickbacks from some conglomerates but pardoned in 2006 while serving his sentence.
Park defected from the main opposition Minjoo Parity of Korea in January and declared that he will remain an independent lawmaker. Park, a three-term legislator, served under former President Kim Dae-jung as chief of staff and culture minister.
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