Former KH Group vice chairman gets four years for threatening ex-girlfriend

Former KH Group Vice Chairman Cho Kyung-sik was sentenced to four years in prison Tuesday for threatening, injuring and confining his ex-girlfriend.

The Suwon District Court sentenced Cho to four years in prison on charges including aggravated assault causing injury, aggravated trespassing, aggravated extortion, aggravated unlawful confinement and violating the Act on the Punishment of Crime of Stalking.

The ruling also revoked Cho's bail, and he was taken into custody immediately after the sentence. Prosecutors had initially sought a seven-year prison term.

Cho was indicted for allegedly threatening and assaulting his former girlfriend with a weapon in a parking lot in Yongin, Gyeonggi, at around 9:50 p.m. on Feb. 15, leaving the victim injured.

He was also accused of forcing his way into the victim's home the same day and confining her there for about seven hours until 6 a.m. the following day. Prosecutors said he threatened her into getting an 8 million won ($5,250) cash advance before having another 6 million won transferred to his bank account.

Prosecutors also accused Cho of stalking the victim on 13 occasions, including waiting for her in a parking lot and repeatedly calling her despite having signed a handwritten pledge promising he would never come looking for her again.

During the trial, Cho denied all charges.

"I only slapped her with my hand and did not injure her with a weapon," Cho said during the trial. "Because we were in a relationship and there was no explicit ban on my entering her home, my actions do not constitute trespassing or unlawful confinement."

Cho also argued that the extortion charge did not apply because he had received money that the victim owed him and that contacting her was a legitimate attempt to resolve a financial dispute rather than stalking.

The court rejected those arguments.

"Even if the defendant did not directly stab the victim with a weapon, it can be considered aggravated assault because he assaulted her while showing the weapon," the court said. "Even if the purpose was to collect a debt, his actions went far beyond what is socially acceptable."

The court also noted that Cho had multiple prior criminal convictions, including prison terms for offenses such as joint assault, and committed the latest crimes while still within the repeat-offender period following a fraud conviction.

"The nature of the offenses is extremely serious," the court said. "Although the victim suffered considerable physical and psychological harm, the defendant continues to insist that his actions were justified and even blames the victim, showing no remorse."

As court officers took him into custody, Cho shouted at the presiding judge that he would file a criminal complaint for "distorting the law" and causing a disturbance in the courtroom.

Cho previously testified at a parliamentary hearing over allegations of a drinking party that involved prosecutors in connection with the Ssangbangwool remittance case, which centers on allegations that Ssangbangwool Group illegally transferred funds to North Korea on behalf of the Gyeonggi provincial government.

At the hearing in April, Cho claimed he attended the drinking party and alleged that prosecutors pressured former Ssangbangwool Group chairman Kim Seong-tae into making false statements before bringing fabricated charges.

BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]