On Wednesday, Ahn Bu-soo, former chairman of the Korea-Asia Peace Exchange Association, appeared in court for a pre-trial detention hearing. This hearing was related to allegations of his involvement in the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case and suspicions of witness tampering.
Judge Nam Se-jin of the Seoul Central District Court began the hearing at 3:30 p.m. (South Korean time).
Ahn arrived at the courthouse around 3:14 p.m. (South Korean time) and proceeded directly to the courtroom.
Facing embezzlement charges, Ahn has been identified as a key broker who allegedly facilitated connections between Ssangbangwool, North Korea, and Gyeonggi Province during Lee Jae Myung’s tenure as governor.
Prosecutors suspect Ssangbangwool provided financial incentives to Ahn, encouraging him to alter his testimony.
In a 2022 investigation, Ahn claimed that the 8 million USD Ssangbangwool sent to North Korea was intended for stock price manipulation.
However, his story changed in April 2023. While testifying in the trial of former Gyeonggi Province Peace Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young, Ahn stated the money was meant to fund Gyeonggi Province and then-Governor Lee’s visit to North Korea.
The arrest warrant application alleges that Ahn illegally received over 100 million KRW (about 68,000 USD) in benefits from Ssangbangwool, including office rent payments and falsified salaries for his daughter.
Specifically, the document states that Ssangbangwool executives paid over 70 million KRW (about 47,600 USD) for Ahn’s office rent and funneled an additional 27 million KRW (about 18,400 USD) through a fake employment scheme for Ahn’s daughter.
The warrant also indicates that Ssangbangwool covered approximately 5 million KRW (about 3,400 USD) of Ahn’s legal fees.
In February, Ahn was sentenced to 18 months in prison for collaborating with Kim Seong-tae, former chairman of Ssangbangwool, to send hundreds of millions of won in foreign currency to North Korea.
On December 5, the Seoul High Prosecutor’s Office’s Human Rights Violation Task Force requested arrest warrants for Ahn, former Ssangbangwool director Park, and former Vice Chairman Bang Yong-cheol.
Judge Nam conducted separate hearings for Park and Bang on the same day, at 10:10 a.m. and 2:10 p.m. (South Korean time), respectively.
The court is expected to decide on the detention of all three individuals as early as that evening.