YoungNam Flour CEO gets 2-year prison term in murder case

A Seoul court on Friday meted out a two-year jail term to YoungNam Flour Mill Co. CEO Ryu Won-ki on charges of embezzlement and collusion in a high-profile contract killing case implicating his wife.

The Seoul Western District Court also sentenced Park Byung-woo, a doctor at Severance Hospital in Seoul, to eight months in prison for concocting three medical statements to help Ryu’s wife Yun Gil-ja receive treatment in a posh hospital room away from her prison.

Yun was convicted of hiring a hit man to kill a female college student in 2002, falsely accusing her of having an affair with her son-in-law. The victim died after being shot in the face and head by an air gun in Gyeonggi Province.

“It is recognized that Park’s fake medical statements were … (used for) suspending the wife’s sentence. And she practically lived in the hospital and her home for nearly five years. (Park) helped her avoid a prison term with his influence, causing public outrage” the court said in its ruling.

The embezzlement charges were brought against Ryu last year after he was found to have used about 6.3 billion won ($5.9 million) from corporate funds to help his wife, who was sentenced to life in jail.

(monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)