Seoul – South Korean Supreme Court on Thursday in Seoul upheld a four-year jail term for an opposition lawmaker for taking bribes in exchange for giving legislative favours.
The court while upholding a lower court’s ruling, found Rep. Kim Jae-yun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy guilty of accepting 54 million won in cash and gift certificates, from a local vocational school between August 2013 and May 2014.
The court said Kim helped the parliamentary passage of a bill that allowed the school to change its name and upgrade its status to what is now known as Seoul Art College.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
“Some four million won worth of certificates Kim received is given with the expectation of benefits in return.
The court in its verdict ordered the 49-year-old to pay a fine of 60 million won and forfeit an additional 54 million won.
Kim lost his legislative seat as the sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court, lowering the number of seats held by the opposition party in the parliament to 127.
Earlier on Wednesday, another lawmaker, Rep. Song Kwang-ho of the ruling Saenuri Party, was also stripped of his parliamentary seat as he was convicted of bribery. (Yonhap/NAN)
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