Supreme Court confirms prison term for ex-Gyeonggi vice governor
Former Gyeonggi Province Vice Gov. Lee Hwa-young is sworn in as a witness at a hearing at the National Assembly in this October 2024 photo.Korea Times photo by Ko Young-kwon
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's sentence of seven years and eight months in prison and other penalties for former Gyeonggi Province Vice Gov. Lee Hwa-young convicted of accepting bribes from underwear maker Ssangbangwool Group and involvement in an unauthorized remittance case to North Korea.
The Suwon High Court handed down the prison term to Lee in December last year, along with a fine of 250 million won ($184,300) and a forfeit of about 326 million won.
Lee served as vice Gyeonggi governor from 2018 to 2020 under then governor and new President Lee Jae-myung.
Lee Hwa-young was indicted in October 2022 on charges of receiving political funds and bribes amounting to about 334 million won from Ssangbangwool between July 2018 and July 2022 and colluding in the group's transfer of $8 million to North Korea between 2019 and 2020.