Former Democratic Party lawmaker Im Jong-seong has been sentenced to prison for accepting bribes from local business owners in his constituency (Gwangju-eul, Gyeonggi Province) during his tenure as a member of the 20th and 21st National Assembly. This legal setback compounds the troubles for the politician who was once part of President Lee Jae-myung’s inner circle, known as the “Group of Seven.”
On February 10, the Seoul Eastern District Court’s Criminal Division 12, presided over by Judge Lee Jeong-hyung, handed down a two-year prison sentence to Im. He was found guilty of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, including bribery, political fund law violations, and the Act on Prohibition of Improper Solicitation and Graft.
Im was indicted for accepting bribes totaling approximately 102.1 million KRW (about 76,575 USD) from November 2019 to May 2021. The funds, provided by a construction company CEO identified as Mr. Eom, covered expenses for his election office’s interior design, office equipment, and even cosmetic surgery.
Additionally, Im allegedly received about 13 million KRW (9,750 USD) in benefits from another construction company executive, Mr. Oh, including the use of a corporate credit card. The court, however, did not uphold the charges related to the interior design and office equipment expenses, concluding that Im was unaware of the exact costs due to Eom’s failure to disclose them before completion.
Nevertheless, the court found Im guilty of accepting 5 million KRW (3,750 USD) for surgery costs from Eom and misusing the corporate card provided by Oh, constituting violations of bribery and anti-graft laws.
In a separate development, Im has recently come under investigation by a joint task force of prosecutors and police for allegedly receiving 30 million KRW (22,500 USD) from the Unification Church around the time of the April 2020 general election. It’s worth noting that Im had previously received a suspended prison sentence for violating election laws related to the 2022 presidential election, which led to his announcement in January that he would not run in the upcoming 22nd general elections in 2024.
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