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Prosecutors have demanded 20 years¡¯ imprisonment for Park Ji-won, the former minister of Culture and Tourism. Park was indicted for transferring illegal funds to North Korea and for receiving W15 billion in bribes from the Hyundai group.
The prosecution also demanded that W12.1 billion of the total, which the prosecutors have already taken from Park, be put in the state coffers and that the remainder be collected later. The penalty demanded by the prosecution is considered heavy, given the maximum legal sentence of 25 years.
At the final trial held Monday at the Seoul District Court, the prosecution said, ¡°The accused should be sternly punished in order to cut the link of corruption between politics and businesses, and to establish a clean political culture. As the top power man of the former regime, the accused received as much as fifteen billion won in bribes from a business group in return for a favor. He also received a large amount of money for his personal wealth, and yet he shows no sign of regret.¡±
Park said in his final testimony, ¡°It is true that I consulted with Hyundai about some political problems ahead of the inter-Korean summit. However, I was never involved in the illegal loan to Hyundai or the transfer of money to the North. Let¡¯s bury this case in history. If I did something wrong, I will be happy to accept punishment.¡±
Park¡¯s court sentence is scheduled for December 12.
(Jeon Su-yong, jsy@chosun.com )
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