Ex-Gyeonggi vice governor found guilty of perjury over claims of 'drinking party' during interrogation

A regional court on Saturday found a former vice governor of Gyeonggi guilty of perjury for falsely testifying to parliament that he was provided with alcohol and food during a prosecution interrogation.

The Suwon District Court sentenced Lee Hwa-young to four months in prison, convicting him of violating the law on testimony before the National Assembly, according to the court document. The case was tried before a seven-panel citizen jury.

Lee was indicted on perjury charges after he testified during a parliamentary hearing in 2024 that he and Kim Seong-tae, former chairman of underwear maker Ssangbangwool, were treated to alcohol and raw salmon during questioning by prosecutors over their involvement in an illegal remittance to North Korea in 2019.

Lee claimed that they had talked about getting their stories straight to incriminate President Lee Jae Myung, then leader of the liberal Democratic Party who had served as Gyeonggi governor when the unauthorized money transfer allegedly took place.

Yonhap