Busan Mayor's Ex-Aides Convicted in Unification Church Evidence Destruction

Former aides to Chun Jae-soo, the mayor of Busan, have been found guilty of destroying evidence ahead of a raid related to allegations of receiving money and valuables from the Unification Church during his time as a member of the National Assembly.

Presiding Judge Kim Soo-hong of the Busan Western District Court’s Criminal Division 3 sentenced A, a 50-year-old former Grade 5 senior secretary to the mayor during his National Assembly tenure, to one year in prison on charges of evidence destruction, citing a risk of flight and detaining him in court.

B, a 50-year-old former Grade 4 secretary, received a suspended sentence of eight months in prison with two years’ probation and was ordered to perform 120 hours of community service. C, a 30-year-old former Grade 8 secretary, and D, a 20-year-old former intern secretary, were each fined 3 million Korean won.

The defendants are accused of initializing a work computer at Chun’s Busan constituency office on December 10, 2025, erasing all stored information.

A allegedly dismantled the computer’s hard drive with a screwdriver, smashed it with a hammer, bent the SSD (semiconductor memory chip storage device) with his hands and feet, and discarded the pieces in a nearby field and a trash bin at a Busan bathhouse.

The defendants argued that the statute of limitations for the alleged bribery had expired, making the evidence destruction charge invalid. However, Judge Kim stated, “If investigations reveal that Chun Jae-soo received bribes exceeding 30 million Korean won, the statute of limitations would extend to over 10 years, meaning the statute of limitations for Chun’s criminal case would not have expired at the time of the defendants’ actions. Therefore, it cannot be conclusively stated that criminal prosecution against Chun was impossible.”

Regarding claims that the destroyed storage media contained no evidence related to the bribery allegations, Judge Kim rejected the argument. He ruled, “The electronic information and storage media destroyed by the defendants likely contained evidence related to Chun Jae-soo’s schedule and meeting records during that period, which are pertinent to criminal proceedings. Even if such evidence held little significance in Chun’s criminal case, Supreme Court precedents confirm that this does not affect the establishment of the evidence destruction charge.”

On sentencing, Judge Kim emphasized, “The criminal case linked to the destroyed evidence involves bribery allegations against a politician who served as a National Assembly member, minister, and head of a metropolitan local government, making it of paramount public importance. The defendants’ actions severely infringed upon the public’s constitutional right to know. It appears the defendants expected future tangible or intangible benefits from Chun Jae-soo in exchange for their crimes. Consequently, the penalties imposed must outweigh any anticipated benefits from the crime.”

Regarding A, Judge Kim noted, “There are some doubts about whether A independently planned and executed the crime. However, A played a leading role in the Busan office, as acknowledged by A himself,” justifying the prison sentence.

The joint police-prosecution task force referred A and three other former aides of the mayor during his National Assembly tenure to trial in non-detained status in April. However, the indictment did not specify whether the defendants reported the computer initialization and disposal to the former mayor. Chun Jae-soo was not indicted due to the statute of limitations expiring on allegations that he received money and luxury watches from the Unification Church.