Kim Chang-il, chairman of Arario Group, was sentenced to two years in jail for a breach of duty involving the operation of a concession stand at a cinema located in the Cheonan Bus Terminal in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, which is owned by the group.

The Daejeon District Court confirmed to The Korea Herald that the ruling took place on Wednesday.

“We cannot elaborate on the details of the case, but we will file an appeal,” an official from the Arario Group told The Korea Herald. The Arario Group runs the Arario Gallery in Cheonan, Seoul and Shanghai, China, and The Arario Museum in Seoul and Jeju Island.

The chairman, also known as Ci Kim, is one of the top collectors in the country and was once listed among the world‘s top 200 art collectors by ART news.

Kim, who is also an artist, was planning an exhibition of his works at Arario Gallery in Cheonan this year. The gallery said that the date of the exhibition has yet to be unconfirmed and that it is likely to be delayed, depending on the pandemic situation.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)