Supreme Court overturns ‘not guilty’ ruling in Lime alcohol entertainment case, citing potential for exceeding 1 million won

[Anchor]

The Supreme Court has made a ruling of guilty intent regarding a current prosecutor who received alcohol entertainment from a key figure in the 'Lime incident'.

The issue at hand was whether the amount of the entertainment exceeded 1 million won, which is a violation of the Anti-Corruption Act, and the Supreme Court has sent the case back to the lower court, stating that there is a possibility it could exceed 1 million won.

Kim Tae-hoon reports.

[Report]

"In July 2019, alcohol was provided to three prosecutors at a room salon."

This was revealed in an 'inmate letter' by Kim Bong-hyun, the former chairman of Star Mobility and a key figure in the 'Lime incident', in October 2020.

Present at the gathering were three current prosecutors, including Prosecutor Na, and former prosecutor Lee, along with female attendants, resulting in a total bill of 5.36 million won.

The prosecution, which launched an investigation, only indicted Prosecutor Na among the current prosecutors for violating the Anti-Corruption Act.

Out of the seven attendees, two individuals, including former Blue House administrative officer Kim, who happened to stop by, were excluded and it was determined that 960,000 won was provided to the two prosecutors who left relatively early, while 1.14 million won was provided to the three who stayed until the end, including Prosecutor Na.

Under the Anti-Corruption Act, only Prosecutor Na, Attorney Lee, and Chairman Kim exceeded the 1 million won threshold for punishment.

The first and second trial courts acquitted all of them.

They reasoned that considering the total number of attendees, including former administrative officer Kim, as six, the amount per person was only 939,000 won.

However, the Supreme Court's judgment was different.

The Supreme Court stated, "The gathering was arranged to provide hospitality to the three prosecutors, including Prosecutor Na," and viewed that "former administrative officer Kim was merely present by chance."

Taking this into account, when recalculating the cost per person for the alcohol gathering, it concluded that "there is a significant possibility it could exceed 1 million won."

If the cost per person for the alcohol gathering is calculated to be over 1 million won in the retrial, there is a high likelihood of a guilty verdict for violating the Anti-Corruption Act.

The Ministry of Justice has currently suspended disciplinary procedures against the prosecutors who attended the gathering until the criminal trial is finalized.

KBS News, Kim Tae-hoon.