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Court Finds Kang and Kim Not Guilty In NSPA Scandal

Posted October. 29, 2005 03:14,   

한국어

Regarding a campaign scandal involving the National Security Planning Agency (NSPA), the predecessor of the National Intelligence Service, in which the Democratic Liberal Party (DLP) and the New Korea Party (NKP) (the predecessors of the main opposition Grand National Party), appropriated the NSPA budget amounting to more than 100 billion won for campaign funds in the June 27 local elections in 1995 and the 15th general elections in 1996, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the funds in question were not from the NSPA budget but from former President Kim Young-sam’s slush fund.

The Supreme Court upheld the ruling that Kang Sam-jae, a former lawmaker, and Kim Gi-seop, a former NSPA deputy manager, who were indicted on charges of national treasury loss under the Additional Punishment Law on Specific Crimes, were found not guilty.

The Supreme Court said, “It is highly likely that the funds in question are connected with slush funds related to former President Kim Young-sam; additionally, it was not confirmed that the funds were the spy agency’s budget or a third person’s fund.”

Controversy is expected because this ruling in effect admitted that former President Kim Young-sam created his slush fund.

The court, however, upheld a lower court ruling in which Kang was sentenced to 10 million won in fines by admitting charges that he gave financial institute employees about 160 million won in return for a fund laundering.

Kang and Kim were indicted on charges of illegally supporting the spy agency’s budget amounting to 119.7 billion won to the DLP and NKP ahead of the 1995 local elections and 1996 general elections, with Kang sentenced to four years in prison with 73.1 billion won in fines, and Kim sentenced to five years in prison with a two-year suspension of qualification and 12.5 billion won in fines in their first trials, but were found not guilty in their second trials.



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