Suspended jail term finalized for ex-Busan vice mayor in bribery case

The Supreme Court on Thursday finalized a suspended prison sentence for a former vice Busan mayor accused of taking bribes from businessmen during his earlier stint at a financial watchdog.

Yoo Jae-soo, who served as vice Busan mayor for economy from 2018-2019, was indicted in 2019 for taking cash and goods worth nearly 50 million won ($41,322) in bribes from four people, including heads of financial firms, between 2010 and 2018 while serving at the Financial Services Commission.

A regional court had earlier sentenced him to 1 1/2 years in prison, suspended for three years, along with a fine of 90 million won, but an appellate court later commuted the sentence to a one-year jail term, suspended for two years, and a fine of 50 million won.

The regional court convicted Yoo of taking 42 million won in bribes, but the appeals court reduced the amount of bribery to 20 million won.

The appellate sentence was finalized in the Thursday ruling by the Supreme Court. (Yonhap)