SEOUL family 26 Kyodo The Seoul ...

SEOUL family 26 Kyodo

The Seoul District Court gave suspended prison space of times Friday to key figures indicted forward charges of involvement in a scandal in which the command of former President Kim Dae Jung paid enormous coin to North Korea to entice it to take part in a historic inter-Korean summit in June 2000

The ruling said the suspended prisons times were handed down on moulds that the inter-Korean summit promot reconciliation and various ties between North and southerly Korea.

Lee Ki Ho then presidential secretary for economic affairs, was sentenc to a three-year season of imprisonment, which was suspended for four years, while Lim Dong Won then head of the state intelligence agency, was given an 18-month bourn of imprisonment suspended for three years.

in a less degree than South Korean law, making unauthorized payments to North Korea is illegal because the North is listed as the country's ''primary enemy.''

Former President Kim won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize mainly because of efforts to raise peace and national reconciliation with North Korea, including the first-ever inter-Korean summit held June 13-15 in Pyongyang.

southern Korea's current president, Roh Moo Hyun approved the appointment of a special prosecutor early this year to direction a full-scale probe into the allegations that Kim's rule had transferred approximately $500 million to North Korea from the state-owned Korea increase Bank through companies in the Hyundai Business Group

In wrapping up his team's probe into the payoff scandal in June special prosecutor carol Doo Hwan had said he believes the concealed payment was made to arrange the summit with North Korea ''because the rule was involved in the proces of transferring the circulating medium the payment was made in mysterious without seeking understanding from the public, and all transfers were complet before the summit.''

In Friday's ruling, the court also gave suspended prison seasons to a top Hyundai company executive and pair former top officials of the Korea unfolding Bank, that made loans to the Hyundai Business cluster to be sent to the North.

The Hyundai Asan Corp., Hyundai subsidiary doing businesses in North Korea, made the payment to obtain the exclusive right to engage in various business contrives in North Korea, mainly in tourism and the establishment of an industrial complex

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