Background
Our client was a team leader in the water supply department of a local government. In November 2023 the department planned a five-day study trip to Japan, and the department head arranged for contractors, including the head of a company awarded department projects through private contracts, to join the trip.
During the trip the company head provided car transport to and from the airport and drinks and entertainment. Prosecutors charged our client with accepting bribes, valuing his share at KRW 292,707. He was also charged under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act for receiving KRW 2 million as condolence money at his father's funeral in February 2022, above the KRW 1 million per-occasion limit.
What Was at Stake
Three officials, including the department head, and the company head were tried together. The question was how far our client was responsible and whether he could avoid a sentence that would be fatal to his public career.
How Changchun Helped
Law Firm Changchun defended our client, and the court accepted the following in sentencing:
Passive role: The department head announced the contractors' participation unilaterally just before the trip, and our client merely went along with benefits arranged by others.
Return and discipline: In January 2024 our client returned KRW 514,290, more than he received, and returned the full KRW 2 million condolence money. A three-month suspension had already been imposed as discipline.
Record of service: He had served faithfully for 22 years, received multiple commendations and had no prior record.
The court also found insufficient evidence for the prosecution's claim of an implied request for continued contracts.
Outcome
In July 2025 the first-instance court imposed a fine of KRW 1 million and suspended the pronouncement of a one-year disqualification. It ordered forfeiture of KRW 292,707.
In cases where an official is drawn in by a superior's decisions, showing the official's actual role, the small benefit received and voluntary repayment can decide the sentence. (Outcomes depend on the facts of each case.)