Kim loyalist sentenced to one-year prison term

The Seoul District Court sentenced Kwon Roh-kap, a former adviser of the Millennium Democratic Party, to one year in prison and a 50 million won ($42,300) fine Thursday.

Mr. Kwon, once President Kim's closest aide, was charged with receiving 50 million won from Chin Seung-hyun, MCI Korea's largest shareholder, in return for impeding the Financial Supervisory Service's investigation into MCI Korea's subsidiaries, Regent Merchant Banking Corporation and Hans Merchant Banking Corporation. A bribe of 50 million won was delivered, Mr. Chin testified, in May 2002.

Prosecutors charged that the money was delivered through Kim Eun-seong, a former official of the National Intelligence Service in May 2000.

Mr. Kwon steadfastly contended that Mr. Kim and Mr. Chin were trying to incriminate him falsely, but the court said it found no evidence to support his claim.

The sentence was greeted with shock by Mr. Kim's lawyers. The court rejected prosecutors' demands for a three-year prison term in addition to the 50-million-won fine, in consideration, it said, of his devotion to Korea's democratization and his age and physical condition. But his lawyers had expected the prison term to be suspended completely, not just shortened.

Mr. Kwon was the head of a group of politicians personally loyal to President Kim Dae-jung because of their close ties with the president during the darkest days of the pro-democracy movement here. Mr. Kwon, 73, has suffered from health problems recently.

The court said the major reason for imposing the prison term was Mr. Kwon's repeated strong denials of any wrongdoing despite evidence to the contrary. Mr. Kwon denied receiving any money whatsoever from Mr. Chin to prosecutors and to the court, but the judge obviously considered his accusers, who testified in detail about the bribes, to be more convincing witnesses.

Mr. Kwon's lawyer, Lee Seok-hyeong, said he would appeal the verdict and expressed concern that Mr. Kwon's physical condition was too weak to endure a year in prison.

Present and sitting assemblymen, including Kim Ok-doo and Kim Won-gil of the MDP, were in court to hear the verdict. After the trial, they asserted that the court's ruling was a political decision.

by Jeon Jin-bae