Ex-DPK leader gets 2-year sentence for receiving illegal political funds

Tune Younger-gil, a former chief of the principle opposition Democratic Celebration of Korea, attends a court docket listening to in Seoul, Dec. 18, 2023. Korea Occasions file photograph by Kim Ye-won

Tune Younger-gil, a former chief of the principle opposition Democratic Celebration of Korea (DPK), was sentenced by a court docket Wednesday to serve two years in jail for receiving unlawful political funds from businesspeople.

The Seoul Central District Courtroom handed out the jail time period to Tune, who was indicted a 12 months in the past for taking 763 million received ($524,000) in unlawful political funds from seven folks underneath the pretext of donations for his help group, the Analysis Institute for Peace & Livelihood, from 2020 to 2021.

Tune was additionally indicted in January final 12 months for his alleged involvement in his marketing campaign’s distribution of money totaling 66 million received to twenty sitting DPK lawmakers and different get together members within the run-up to the get together’s management election in Might 2021, which he finally received.

However the court docket acquitted Tune of the costs associated to the cash-for-votes scandal after refusing to acknowledge the evidential worth of a former DPK official’s mobile phone recording information, which was the start line of the prosecution’s investigation into the case.

The court docket then ordered the speedy detention of Tune, who was beforehand put underneath arrest in January final 12 months however was launched on bail 4 months later in Might.

Tune is now serving because the chief of the Pine Tree Celebration, a minor political get together.

Prosecutors demanded imprisonment of 9 years and a high quality of 100 million received for Tune in his earlier listening to. (Yonhap)