Gangwon Province governor-elect faces suspension

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Staff reporter

Gangwon Province Governor-elect Lee Kwang-jae will be unable to take up his post on July 1 after a court ruling Friday resulted in his suspension from duty.

The Seoul High Court upheld the conviction of Lee for taking bribes, but reduced his punishment to a six-month prison sentence suspended for one year and a 114 million won fine. The lower court handed out sentence of eight months in jail suspended for two years and 148 million won in fines.

Lee, who was elected in the June 2 local election, immediately said he would appeal to the Supreme Court. He insisted that he did not accept any illicit money.

Under the Local Autonomy Law, if a governor is sentenced to imprisonment or a fine of over one million won, they are suspended until the Supreme Court rules on the case, and the vice governor assumes their duties.

If the highest court rules against Lee, he will lose his post and Gangwon will have to hold a by-election to choose a new governor.

Lee, one of the close aides to the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, was indicted for accepting 10 million won from a relative of Chung Sang-moon, a former secretary of Roh at Cheong Wa Dae; and $120,000 and 20 million won from Park Yeon-cha, CEO of shoe-making company Taekwang, who was at the center of the bribery scandal involving Roh. He is also accused of accepting $20,000 from former Nonghyup chief Chung Dae-kun.

"The testimony by the Nonghyup president was consistent enough to verify that he had given bribes to Lee," the appeals court said. The court said that though Park did not attend the second trial to testify, his statements made at the first one were verifiable.

But the governor-elect protested the court's sentence, saying it ruled based on Park's former statement, not on concrete evidence. "Park said he would appear in court, but the prosecution opposed it. I feel sorry that he didn't have a chance to tell the truth," he said during a press conference after the ruling.

Lee served five months in prison after he was indicted for taking bribes from Park Yeon-cha in 2009, before being paroled. He announced his retirement from politics in March 2009, but made a comeback through the June 2 election.

강원도지사 당선자 유죄 판결

이광재 강원도지사 당선자가 정치자금법 위반등의 혐의로 금요일 항소심에서 유죄를 선고를 받아 7월 1일 시작하는 지사직무를 하지 못할 처지가 되었다.

이번 판결에서 이 당선자는 징역 6개월에 집행유예 1년, 추징금 1억 1,417만원을 선고 받았다. 그는 1심에서 징역 8개월에 2년 집행유예, 추징금 1억 4,800만원의 선고를 받았다.

지방자치법에 의하면 금고 이상의 형을 받은 당선자는 대법원의 판결 전까지 직무가 정지되고 차상자가 직무를 대행한다. 또 대법원이 100만원 이상의 벌금형을 확정하면 보궐선거가 열리게 된다.

이 당선자는 2004년 정상문 전 청와대 총무비서관의 사돈에게서 1천만원을 받고 2004∼2008년 박 전 회장에게서 미화 12만달러와 2천만원, 2006년 정 전 회장에게서 미화 2만달러를 각각 받은 혐의로 기소됐다.

이 당선자는 이번 판결에 대해 "증거는 존재하지 않고 박연차 회장의 진술만 있다"며 대법원에 상고하겠다고 밝혔다.