General Shin Il-soon Fined 20 Million Won

The general military court of the Ministry of National Defense, led by Judge Jung Soo-sung, the 1st Army admiral, sentenced Army General Shin Il-soon, also the vice admiral of ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), who was arrested and indicted on charges of bribery and embezzlement, with a fine of 20 million won and an additional penalty of approximately 107 million won.

The general military court found General Shin guilty on most of the charges regarding the embezzlement among other charges, but found him not guilty on bribery charges with regard to the 10 million won that he received from “D” business group.

Judge Jung Soo-sung announced, “General Shin’s offense of having used public funds allocated for the soldiers for his private use is weighty in nature, but taking into consideration the fact that his honor was impaired in being arrested with the highest rank, the court has decided to sentence him with monetary penalty.”

Prior to the decision, the Military of National Defense Prosecutor’s Office demanded five years in prison, and General Shin said at the final testimony that he “believed that the money was used for the force and the subordinates,” and that he “will take responsibility if it is in a breach of law.”

As he is suspended from his position of Vice Admiral of ROK-U.S. CFC, General Shin was released immediately after the trial held in the afternoon and returned to his official residence at Hanam-dong, Yonsan-gu, in Seoul. According to the code of personnel management of the army, one is to be discharged from his assigned position when sentenced with imprisonment, but General Shin averted the discharge and maintained his position as a general since the sentence stopped short of imprisonment and instead at a monetary penalty.

However, since General Shin was found guilty nonetheless, it is possible that he can be discharged from his office at the end of this month through President Roh Moo-hyun’s sanction at the request of Minister Cho Young-gil of National Defense.

Consequently, it is poised to have some impact on the general-level appointment that is scheduled around May 27 or 28. The military prosecutors and General Shin’s lawyers maintained their view that “it is not yet concluded,” regarding the possibility of an appeal.

Ho-Won Choi bestiger@donga.com