Former National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae on Monday was given eight months in prison with two years suspended for attempting to buy off leading party members in his election as party chairman in 2008.

Judge Kang Eul-hwan of Seoul Central District Court convicted him of violating the Political Party Law. Alongside Park, Kim Hyo-jae, former presidential secretary for political affairs, and Cho Jeong-man, Park’s senior secretary, were given a six-month prison term suspended for one year and a 5 million won fine ($4,273) each.

Park came under the fire in January when former ruling party lawmaker Koh Seung-duk revealed an attempt to bribe him before the July 3 chairmanship vote of the then-Grand National Party, now the Saenuri Party.

Koh claimed that he was given 3 million won along with Park’s name card three days before the election by a man working for Park’s camp. Koh said he had returned them.

An Byung-young, a district chapter head of the party, admitted that he was instructed by Kim to hand over 20 million won to five members of district councils with instructions to bribe 30 party officials.

The vote-buying scandal dealt a blow to the reputation of the party, which had already been struggling with falling public support. The party changed its name to the Saenuri Party ahead of the April 11 general election. 

Park and Kim denied the allegations during the prosecution’s investigation but later pled guilty, asking for leniency. They said the payment was more of a “compensation for transportation and other administrative costs.”

But the court found Park and Kim’s deeds to be serious.

“What they have done, spreading money to buy a ruling party leadership, is grave. Park had got a credit line and Kim helped his needs by orchestrating the whole plan. Therefore, a heavy penalty was inevitable,” Kang said.

“The Political Party Law strictly bans any monetary transaction in selecting a party head, and candidates’ providing financial aid is inappropriate.”

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)