Yang Kyung-sook, a former programming director at Radio 21 who previously served time for election fraud, has been sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly defrauding investors of billions of won by promoting North Korean Daedonggang beer business and aid projects.
On July 16, the Supreme Court’s First Division, led by Chief Justice Seo Kyung-hwan, rejected Yang’s appeal and upheld the original five-year prison sentence for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (Fraud), according to legal sources on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court stated that the lower court’s judgment did not violate logical reasoning or experiential principles, nor did it exceed the limits of free evaluation of evidence.
Yang misled investors with a scheme known as the Jangmadang Project, claiming she would support North Korea by purchasing masks using profits from importing and selling Daedonggang beer.
From December 2020 to March 2022, Yang swindled over 3.3 billion KRW (about 2.43 million USD) from seven victims under the guise of aiding North Korean compatriots through mask donations and investments in the Jangmadang Project.
One victim invested approximately 970 million KRW (about 714,500 USD) after Yang falsely promised that each mask sent to North Korea would guarantee a profit of over 200 KRW (about 0.15 USD), and that a 1.45 billion KRW (about 1.068 million USD) investment would yield returns of 3 to 10 billion KRW (about 2.2 to 7.36 million USD).
However, the Jangmadang Project was entirely fictitious. Yang used most of the funds for personal purposes, including repaying other investors and purchasing cryptocurrency. When the investigation began, she fled overseas and was later apprehended as an illegal resident in China.
In November last year, the first trial sentenced Yang to six years in prison, citing the severity of her crimes, methods, and the extent of financial damage caused.
The court determined that Yang’s mask donation and Jangmadang Project had no genuine profit-generating potential, concluding that she had neither the intention nor the ability to deliver the promised returns when soliciting investments.
The court also noted that despite her previous convictions for fraud, Yang continued to exploit her alleged connections with political and media figures, repeating similar offenses and raising significant concerns about her culpability.
On April 29, the second trial upheld Yang’s guilt but reduced her sentence to five years, considering partial settlements reached with some victims.
The court explained that one victim who lost 510 million KRW (about 375,640 USD) had reached a settlement and submitted a petition stating they did not wish for Yang to be punished.
Yang’s legal troubles date back to 2012 when she received a three-year prison sentence for violating campaign finance laws. She had collected over 4 billion KRW (about 2.95 million USD) from candidates by promising to secure them proportional representation candidacy in the Democratic United Party.
In 2013, she was sentenced to two years in prison for defrauding 360 million KRW (about 265,160 USD) under the pretense of broadcasting investments. However, she was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2022 on separate charges of forging an apartment contract.