Retrial request covers foreign exchange law violations only; bribery and other charges to follow

Lee Hwa-young, former vice governor for peace affairs of Gyeonggi Province [Yonhap]
Lee Hwa-young, former vice governor for peace affairs of Gyeonggi Province [Yonhap]

Lee Hwa-young, the former vice governor for peace affairs of Gyeonggi Province whose seven-year, eight-month prison sentence in the SBW North Korea funds transfer case was finalized, has filed for a retrial on the foreign exchange law violation charges, citing new evidence including documents from the National Intelligence Service.

Lee's legal team said Tuesday morning it had filed the retrial petition with the Suwon High Court covering the guilty verdict on the foreign exchange law violation counts. The team said it plans to file additional retrial petitions on the charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes — bribery — and obstruction of evidence, pending ongoing investigations by the Seoul Metropolitan Prosecution Office's human rights violation review TF (formerly the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office) and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials.

A retrial is an emergency relief procedure that allows a finalized guilty verdict to be re-examined when a serious error is found. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, grounds for a retrial include the discovery of clear new evidence that would support a not-guilty finding for a convicted person.

Earlier, Lee's sentence of seven years and eight months in prison along with a fine of 250 million won ($186,000) and a surcharge of 25.95 million won was finalized by the Supreme Court in June last year. Lee had been indicted and tried on charges of receiving 334 million won in political funds and bribes from SBW Group between 2018 and 2022, and of conspiring in SBW's transfer of $8 million to North Korea.

Lee's legal team said Tuesday that "the North Korea funds transfer was a corrupt transaction aimed at propping up SBW's share price, which was facing a forced sell-off, and at earning foreign currency for North Korea," and that "the 'payment on behalf' testimony was fabricated in the prosecutor's office." The team said it is basing the retrial petition on five categories of evidence: NIS response documents, recordings of phone calls with the investigating prosecutor, Ministry of Justice audit materials along with visit records and court appearance logs, Financial Supervisory Service materials, and court testimony and parliamentary investigation records from 2026.

Along with the retrial petition, Lee's legal team also applied for fact-finding inquiries and the scheduling of hearing dates at the NIS, the Ministry of Justice and the Suwon District Prosecution Office (formerly the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office). "We expect the court to rigorously review the new evidence alongside the existing record and swiftly decide to open a retrial," the team said.

Lee's attorney, Kim Gwang-min, drew controversy last month when Kim said Lee "is very angry at President Lee" and that Lee had conveyed a wish to be granted parole. The Ministry of Justice said Lee did not meet the conditions for parole.


bell@heraldcorp.com