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| ▲ Rep. Youn Mee-hyang (C) arrives at the Seoul Western District Court on Feb. 10, 2023, to attend a hearing on her alleged embezzlement case. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) lawmaker-sentence
(LEAD) Lawmaker fined 15 mln won for embezzling funds donated to sexual slavery victims
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in last two paras)
SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- Independent lawmaker Youn Mee-hyang was sentenced by a court to a fine of 15 million won (US$11,900) on Friday for embezzling funds donated to help support women who were forced into wartime sexual slavery by Japan during World War II.
Youn was indicted in 2020 for collecting hundreds of millions of won in donations to her private bank accounts and spending some of that money for personal matters, while heading a major civic group for wartime sexual slavery victims, the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery.
Youn led the group between 2005-20 before winning a parliamentary seat on the Democratic Party's (DP) ticket in 2020. The DP expelled Youn in 2021, and she has since been an independent.
The Seoul Western District Court handed out the monetary penalty to the 58-year-old Youn after finding her guilty of embezzling about 17 million won from funds deposited in the council's and her personal accounts.
The court, however, acquitted Youn of violating the donation collection law and other charges pressed by prosecutors who previously demanded an imprisonment of five years.
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