Prosecutors Drop Appeals in Wirye Development Corruption and Cho Hyun-ok Cases After Acquittals

Prosecutors have decided not to appeal the first-instance acquittals of private businessmen charged with corruption allegations related to the Wirye New Town development project. They also decided against appealing the acquittal of Cho Hyun-ok, former senior presidential secretary for personnel affairs, who was prosecuted for allegedly interfering improperly in the appointment process for the head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency during the Moon Jae-in administration.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office announced on the 4th that regarding the Wirye development corruption case, "we have decided not to file an appeal after considering the legal review results and the likelihood of the appeal being accepted." With prosecutors dropping the appeal, the acquittals of defendants including Yoo Dong-gyu, former acting president of Seongnam Development Corporation, attorney Nam Wook, and accountant Chung Young-hak have been finalized. All asset freezes from seizures and preservation orders in this case are also expected to be lifted.

Additionally, regarding former senior secretary Cho, who was acquitted on December 28 of abuse of authority and obstruction of rights charges related to the appointment of Lee Sang-jik as head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, prosecutors stated they "decided not to file an appeal after considering the evidence and the likelihood of the appeal being accepted."

On December 28, Presiding Judge Lee Chun-geun of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Central District Court had ruled the defendants not guilty of violating the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Act. Judge Lee found that while the information the private businessmen obtained during the project did constitute "confidential information" under the anti-corruption law, this was not directly linked to "dividend profits."