Geomjin Beopsa Sentenced to 5 Years on Appeal in Kim Keon Hee Money-Delivery Case... "Undermined Separation of Church and State"

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[Financial News] Geomjin Beopsa (Jeon Seong-bae), who was sentenced to prison in the first trial on charges including delivering gifts to First Lady Kim Keon Hee and lobbying on behalf of the Unification Church, also received a prison sentence on appeal.
On the 21st, the 13th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court, presided over by Judges Kim Mu-shin, Lee Woo-hee, and Judge Yoo Dong-gyun, sentenced Jeon to five years in prison on charges of receiving brokerage money under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and violating the Political Funds Act. The Kim Keon Hee Special Prosecutor Team, led by Special Counsel Min Joung-kie, had sought a total of eight years in prison for Jeon, who was sentenced to six years in the first trial.
The court took into account as mitigating factors that Jeon admitted to some of the charges and submitted the luxury goods he had delivered to Kim and later received back, including a Chanel bag and a Graff necklace. The court said this was reasonable because his actions led key figures, including Kim and former presidential office administrator Kyeong-ok Yu, to reverse their statements and acknowledge the facts of the allegations.
The remaining brokerage-related charges were all found guilty, as in the lower court. The panel said, "Given that there was no particular personal relationship between the Unification Church and Kim Keon Hee, it goes against common sense to say that a Chanel bag worth 8.02 million won was given simply to build friendship." It added, "Considering the broad scope of the president's duties and the nature of the Unification Church's business, it is consistent with social norms to recognize the gifts as something given in expectation of brokerage related to presidential duties, since the president had been elected."
However, the charge of receiving 100 million won in nomination money from Park Chang-uk, a Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council member, which had been acquitted in the first trial, remained not guilty on appeal as well. The court rejected the special counsel's appeal, saying, "The defendant cannot be regarded as a person engaged in 'other political activities' under the Political Funds Act, nor can the 100 million won be considered political funds."
The court said, "The defendant received money by using personal ties with former President Yoon Suk Yeol and other senior public officials for brokerage." It added, "In a democratic political system, the higher one's position and the greater one's authority, the greater one's responsibility. The spouse of the president is a position that demands the highest moral standards and public accountability."
It continued, "However, the defendant used her personal relationship with Kim Keon Hee to influence senior government officials and sought favors for public appointments and contracts not only in the 2022 South Korean presidential election but also in local elections and the party leadership election, extending support to the Unification Church while pursuing private gain in the process."
The court also criticized the conduct, saying, "In particular, in relation to the Unification Church, the defendant repeatedly acted as an intermediary by passing along requests from the church to Kim Keon Hee and Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, which led to collusion between politics and business." It added, "Through this collusion, Former President Yoon Suk Yeol not only used the Unification Church, but also caused the constitutional value of separation of church and state to be undermined."
Jeon is accused of receiving 80 million won worth of gifts, including two Chanel bags intended for Kim Keon Hee, a Graff necklace, and Cheonsusam Concentrated Ginseng Tea, from Yoon Young-ho, former head of the Unification Church World Headquarters, between April and July 2022, while lobbying on Unification Church issues. He is also accused of receiving 30 million won during the same period in exchange for seeking a position as an adviser to the Unification Group.
He is also accused of receiving money and valuables in exchange for lobbying from Heerim Architects & Planners and Contents LAB Company. The special counsel team also added a charge that Jeon received 100 million won in connection with the nomination of Park Chang-uk, a candidate for the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council, ahead of the 8th Nationwide Local Elections in May 2022.
theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo, Choi Eun-sol Reporter