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Middleman sentenced for illegal money transfer to North

Published: 23 May. 2023, 18:34

Ahn Bu-soo, former chairman of Asia-Pacific Exchange Association. [YONHAP]

Ahn Bu-soo, the former chairman of the Asia-Pacific Exchange Association, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison for violating the foreign exchange transaction act and embezzlement.

Ahn is the first figure to be convicted over the illegal wiring of money to North Korea for the political purpose of getting Pyongyang to send an invitation to Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung when he was Gyeonggi governor.

Ahn has been accused of playing the middleman between the Gyeonggi government and SBW, an underwear company that provided the money delivered to North Korea.

According to his indictment, he is accused of handing to North Korean officials about $210,000 and 1.8 million yuan ($255,276).

Suwon District Court on Tuesday acknowledged that the money delivered to North Korea was used in lobbying North Korean officials to win future projects, including the opening of a North Korean restaurant Okryukwan in Gyeonggi.

The court ruled that even when considering the importance of inter-Korean economic cooperation, transferring money to North Korea violated the law and constituted a crime that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Transferring money to North Korea violates United Nations sanctions.

Ahn had been accused of meeting North Korean officials, including Kim Yong-chul, head of Pyongyang’s state-controlled Asia-Pacific Peace Committee at the time, and Song Myong-chol of North Korea’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee with former SBW Chairman Kim Seong-tae, as well as Lee Hwa-young, former Gyeonggi vice governor, in China and North Korea between 2018 and 2019.

Money was exchanged during the meetings, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Kim Yong-chul, a North Korean general and right-hand man of leader Kim Jong-un, is also considered the mastermind behind several attacks on South Korea, including the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in 2010 and the shelling of South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island the same year.

Ahn is also accused of embezzling 1.2 billion ($911,000) won in Gyeonggi government subsidies and donations from companies such as SBW, which he used for personal purposes.

The court especially criticized how 700 million won of the 1.2 billion won that Ahn embezzled came from taxes paid by Gyeonggi residents that were supposed to be used for humanitarian purposes, including the purchase of 1,132 tons of flour for North Korean children.

While the flour never made it to North Korea, Ahn filed a false report that it did.

SBW Chairman Kim Seong-tae has appeared as a witness at the trial of former Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young, also regarding the illegal transfer of money to North Korea.

Kim’s own trial on the same charges kicks off on Friday.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [[email protected]]