Former KT Corp CEO Koo Hyun-mo [KT Corp]
Former KT Corp CEO Koo Hyun-mo [KT Corp]

Former KT Corp CEO Koo Hyun-mo was acquitted Tuesday in a first-instance ruling on charges of interfering in the management of a subcontracting firm.

The 23rd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court acquitted Koo of charges including violations of the Subcontracting Act. Prosecutors had sought a fine of 70 million won ($50,700), but the court rejected the request.

The court acknowledged some suspicion, saying it had wondered whether Koo had used his position to have a former affiliate executive appointed as chief executive of a subcontractor, thereby interfering in its management.

However, the court concluded that "taking into account the various facts established through the court's examination of evidence, the evidence submitted by prosecutors alone is insufficient to find that Koo and others conspired to use their position or influence to interfere in the management of a subcontractor." It added that there was no other evidence to support the charges.

Koo was accused of directing KT Telecop's subcontractor KS Mate in 2020 to appoint a former KT affiliate executive as its chief executive, among other acts of management interference.

Throughout the trial, Koo denied the charges. His legal team said he had heard through routine briefings that a former affiliate executive had been recommended for the subcontractor's top post, but maintained that he had never instructed or approved the appointment.

At the final hearing in May, his defense said a mere recommendation could not be construed as conspiracy and that there was no evidence of management interference under the Subcontracting Act. In his final statement, Koo said the case had been an unjust targeted investigation stemming from pressure from the presidential office in Yongsan to resign, calling it a politically motivated probe by prosecutors.

Former KT Corp Vice President Shin Hyun-ok, who faced the same charges, was also acquitted on the same grounds.

However, Shin was found guilty on a separate coercion charge — threatening employees over personnel matters related to the allocation of work orders among partner companies — and was fined 5 million won. Shin argued the remarks were intended to encourage staff in line with management strategy, but the court was not persuaded.

The court said Shin's explanation carried "some degree of persuasiveness," but ruled that his statements — "do it this way or you'll be fired" and "you'll get hurt" — regardless of their intended meaning, constituted a threat serious enough to obstruct the victims' decision-making.


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