By Lee Kyung-min
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s ruling that sentenced Kim Hyeong-sik, a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, to life in prison for commissioning a murder.
Kim was indicted in July last year on charges of plotting the murder of a wealthy businessman, surnamed Song, 67, from whom he received 520 million won in bribes. Kim asked his friend, surnamed Paeng, to carry out the killing.
According to the court, Kim received money from Song to finance his election campaign in 2011. In return, he promised to ease development restrictions for land that Song owned if he were elected.
But he could not keep his promise as easing the restrictions was not under his remit. As Song threatened to make the bribe public, Kim urged Paeng to kill Song. Paeng agreed after Kim promised to write off debts Paeng owed to him.
A district court sentenced Kim to life in prison after a jury trial, in which all nine jurors found him guilty.
An appellate court upheld the ruling and delivered the same sentence, noting that he showed no remorse and instead blamed the murder all on Paeng. The court handed down a 20-year jail sentence for Paeng, down from the local court’s 25 years.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, Kim will lose his post as a councilman according to the related law.