Park Soo-hong's Older Brother Sentenced to 3 Years and 6 Months in Prison in Appeal Court... Sentence Increased

Park Jin-hong, the older brother of broadcaster Park Soo-hong, who was charged with embezzling hundreds of millions of won from the funds of his agency, was sentenced to a heavier prison term in the appeal court and was taken into custody. The not guilty verdict for his sister-in-law, who was acquitted in the first trial, was also overturned.

The 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court sentenced Park Jin-hong to 3 years and 6 months in prison for embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and took him into custody. This is an increase of 1 year and 6 months from the 2-year sentence in the first trial. The prosecution had sought a 7-year sentence in the appeal.

The court pointed out in its reasoning for sentencing that "Mr. Park's method of committing the crime was very poor and has caused significant moral hazard and ethical controversy in our society for a long time, having a considerable negative impact." It also stated that Mr. Park's consistent excuse of not being involved in the company's operations and not knowing that the personal use of the corporate card was inappropriate worked against him.

Park's wife, Lee Mo, who was also indicted, was acquitted in the first trial, but the judgment was overturned in the appeal. The court sentenced Lee to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspended sentence and ordered 120 hours of community service. The court acknowledged the couple's guilty use of 26 million won of the corporate card for personal purposes. However, the charge of remitting fees for hiring a personal lawyer was judged not guilty, as in the first trial.

Park Jin-hong was charged in October 2022 for embezzling hundreds of millions of won from his brother Park Soo-hong's management from 2011 to 2021 while managing his brother's affairs (embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes). His wife, Lee, was also indicted without detention for involvement in some embezzlement charges, including personal use of the corporate card.

The first trial court partially acknowledged the charge that Mr. Park embezzled 2 billion won of company funds last February but ruled not guilty on the charge of using about 1.6 billion won of Park Soo-hong's personal funds, sentencing him to 2 years in prison. At that time, considering that there was no risk of flight or destruction of evidence, he was not taken into custody, and his wife, Lee, received a not guilty verdict.