▲ Former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young
SBS has obtained the first-instance ruling detailing the specific grounds for the four-month prison sentence handed down to Lee Hwa-young, former Vice Governor of Gyeonggi Province, who is accused of perjury at the National Assembly in connection with the so-called "salmon and alcohol party" allegations.
According to the ruling, the Criminal Division 11 of the Suwon District Court (presided over by Senior Judge Song Byung-hoon) found Lee guilty of perjury at the National Assembly, based on the opinions of the jury in a citizen participation trial, ruling that his statements regarding the "salmon and alcohol party" were inconsistent.
The "salmon and alcohol party" allegation claims that on May 17, 2023, during the investigation into the Ssangbangwool Group's illegal remittance to North Korea, the prosecution team, including prosecutor Park Sang-yong, provided salmon and alcohol to suspects, including Lee and former Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim Seong-tae, to coax them into making statements unfavorable to President Lee Jae-myung (then-leader of the Democratic Party of Korea).
Lee was put on trial on charges of perjury for testifying as a witness at a parliamentary impeachment inquiry hearing for prosecutor Park in October of the same year, where he falsely claimed, "I was provided with alcohol in Room 1313 of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office on either June 18 or June 30, 2023."
Following an all-night deliberation lasting nine and a half hours starting at 6 p.m. on June 19, the day before the sentencing, all seven jurors agreed that the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office had the authority to investigate and prosecute the case that occurred within its jurisdiction.
Regarding whether Lee was provided with alcohol in the presence of former Chairman Kim and others on May 17, 2023—a date Lee later specified after the National Assembly hearing—the jury delivered a split verdict, with four voting "yes" and three voting "no."
The three jurors who voted "no" judged that Lee's statements in the National Assembly identifying the dates as June 18 and June 30 could not be deemed false statements.
The court explained, "Based on the submitted materials alone, it is difficult to see that the prosecution split and indicted the cases against Lee with any specific intention," adding that the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office's indictment cannot be viewed as a significant abuse of prosecutorial discretion.
It continued, "The courtroom testimonies of the witnesses who took oaths in front of the judges and jurors are mutually consistent, and there are no circumstances to reject their statements," concluding, "Lee's statements are inconsistent regarding the location and amount of drinking, making it difficult to believe that alcohol was provided solely based on Ssangbangwool's corporate card payment records."
The court stated, "Considering the legislative intent of the citizen participation trial system, it is necessary to respect the opinions of the jurors," and noted that it took into account the jurors' sentencing recommendations—six recommending four months in prison and one recommending six months—in determining the sentence for Lee's perjury charge.
Regarding the allegation of conspiring with former Ssangbangwool Chairman Kim for "split donations" (violation of the Political Funds Act), the court found Lee not guilty.
Lee was accused of exceeding the annual donation limit by instigating 11 Ssangbangwool Group employees and their spouses to donate 8 million won to the Gyeonggi Province governor candidate's support association in May 2018, and 13 people, including former Chairman Kim and KH Group Chairman Bae Sang-yoon, to donate a total of 90 million won to the support association of President Lee, who was then a candidate in the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential primary in July 2021. All seven jurors determined that Lee was not involved in these actions, and the court accepted this to acquit him.
Regarding charges including abuse of authority related to providing tree saplings and flour to North Korea, the court dismissed the public prosecution ex officio.
Although the majority of the jury voted against the claim of abuse of prosecutorial power on this charge (2 "yes," 5 "no"), the court cited a related case (the partial conviction in the first-instance trial of Shin Myung-seop, former Director-General of the Peace and Cooperation Bureau of Gyeonggi Province) and pointed out, "When the prosecutor indicted Shin, they recorded a conspiracy relationship in the indictment despite having no evidence to prove a co-conspirator relationship with Lee."
The court ruled, "Lee was judged guilty of being in a co-conspirator relationship without being indicted or able to exercise any right to defense in Shin's case," concluding that this clearly constituted an abuse of prosecutorial power that severely infringed upon his right to defense.
Lee's legal team argued, "The prosecution made a forced indictment by singling out the 'bringing in of alcohol' part, which was mentioned for only about one minute during Lee's 40-minute testimony at the National Assembly hearing," claiming, "He has consistently maintained the fact that the alcohol party took place, and only his memory of the date was unclear."
Referring to a lie detector test by the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office's Human Rights Violation Inspection Task Force, which showed a "truthful response," Lee's side stated, "He testified to a fact that clearly exists in his memory, and it is difficult to accept punishing this as intentional perjury," expressing their intention to appeal.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.