Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, November 02, 2002
Kim Dae-jung's Son Sentenced to 3.5 Years in Prison
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's second son, Kim Hong-up, on Friday was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by Seoul District Court on charges of bribery.
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's second son, Kim Hong-up, on Friday was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by Seoul District Court on charges of bribery.
Besides, the court also ordered the 52-year old man to pay 500 million won (380,000 US dollars) in fines and an additional penalty of 560 million won (466,666 dollars), said national news agency Yonhap News.
Kim Sung-hwan, a friend of the President's son who had also been charged in the case, was sentenced to a five-year jail term and ordered to return the 1.86 billion won (1.55 million dollars) in bribes he accepted from companies, reported Yonhap.
"Capitalizing on his status and influence as a son of the president, (Kim Hong-up) accepted a considerable sum of money and evaded taxes, and most of his illicit requests with the prosecution and the National Tax Service were granted. This shows our society is still vulnerable to 'structural corruption,'" JudgeKim Sang-kyun was quoted by Yonhap as saying. "A heavy sentence must be handed down to prevent a recurrence of such an incident," added the judge.
Kim Hong-up was arrested in July 2001 for receiving about 2.5 billion won (2.08 million dollars) from companies and dodging taxes on some 2.2 billion won (1.83 million dollars) he took from Hyundai and other conglomerates as political donations.