Incheon mayor Ahn Sang Soo has been found not guilty in the case about the gulbi boxes that contained W200 million. Ahn supposedly thought the two gulbi (dried yellow croaker) boxes that each contained 100 wrapped bundles of W100,000 cash and were given to him by delivery to his younger sister's house was a homegrown product of some sort from the provinces. Following the revelations about what happened Ahn found himself criticized for lying, having said he'd had no knowledge of who sent the boxes and misstating the date of their arrival by four days. It is puzzling that the court would side with him despite his serious lack of credibility for having changed his story so much. The prosecution is particularly pathetic for failing to prove his guilt.
The prosecution's incompetence and inadequate investigation can be seen in the court's reason for finding Ahn not guilty. "Key to this case is whether the defendant knew the boxes contained cash at the time they were delivered," says the court decision. "The prosecution has not specified when it thinks the defendant knew the boxes were meant to be a bribe, and it has provided no direct evidence." It goes on to say that it looks like prosecutors "indicted the defendant based on guesses that were in turn based on the testimony of the person who sent the money and other circumstances." In other words, the investigation was inadequate.
About the head of the construction company, the man who sent the money, however, the court issued a sentence of one year six months and ordered the W200 million confiscated. It then put him under arrest on the spot. It is a strange situation; the man who persisted in trying to send a "heartfelt gift" and did so when it was accepted is being punished, whereas the man who received the money is not guilty because they are unable to figure out when it was he first became aware of what the gift consisted of. It is hard to accept the court's finding, and you wonder whether it can be called a judgment becoming of a just society. The prosecution needs to be more ambitious with a follow-up investigation before continuing with an appeal.
Having been found not guilty, Ahn gets to keep his position as mayor of Incheon and will have no problem running for reelection in June of 2006. As a separate issue from the verdict, however, he needs to apologize to the people of Incheon and the country for changing his version of events and lying on several occasions after the case became known. Verdicts of not guilty do not excuse a public official of dishonesty.
The Hankyoreh, 18 February 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] 'Gulbi Boxes' Verdict Makes No Sense |
