Politics · South Korea · 2 hrs ago
Lee Hwa-young to Seek Retrial in North Korea Remittance Case
Lee Hwa-young plans to seek a retrial of his North Korea remittance case on November 3.
He is a former vice governor of Gyeonggi Province in South Korea and is serving a 7-year, 8-month prison sentence.
He was convicted of taking bribes from the Ssangbangwool Group and conspiring in payments to North Korea.
His lawyers plan to rely in part on a National Intelligence Service audit, which found that a North Korean agent was in a third country when the money was allegedly handed over in the Philippines in 2019.
Earlier courts rejected that argument, accepting the former group chairman’s account and citing the agent’s use of aliases and false identities.
The key issue will be whether the material Lee presents qualifies as new evidence that justifies reopening the case.
His lawyers are also considering seeking a pause in his sentence, but no decision on either request has been reported.
Lee Hwa-young, a former vice governor of Gyeonggi Province, plans to seek a retrial in a case involving alleged remittances to North Korea.
He is serving a prison sentence of seven years and eight months, which was upheld by South Korea’s Supreme Court.
His lawyers plan to submit a roughly 300-page retrial request to the Suwon High Court on November 3.
They are expected to rely in part on findings from a special audit by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.
The appeal court rejected the argument that the alleged recipient of a 2019 payment was in a third country, and the Supreme Court upheld that assessment.
- Who
- Lee Hwa-young, a former vice governor of Gyeonggi Province.
- What
- He plans to seek a retrial in the North Korea remittance case for which he is serving a seven-year-and-eight-month sentence.
- When
- His lawyers plan to file the request on November 3. The article was published November 2, 2026.
- Where
- Suwon High Court, South Korea.
- Why
- His lawyers plan to cite findings from a National Intelligence Service audit, including that the alleged recipient was in a third country at the time of the alleged payment.
Lee Hwa-young’s legal team
Appeal court and Supreme Court
Alleged recipient’s location
Lee Hwa-young’s legal team
Lee’s lawyers point to National Intelligence Service findings that Ri Ho-nam was in a third country in July 2019.
Appeal court and Supreme Court
The appeal court rejected that argument, citing Ri’s use of aliases and false identities, and found the former chairman’s account credible; the Supreme Court upheld that assessment.
The alleged payment of $700,000 to North Korean agent Ri Ho-nam was said to have taken place in the Philippines.
Lee’s lawyers applied for a constitutional review in a separate perjury case.
Lee’s lawyer is scheduled to submit the retrial request to Suwon High Court.
- Sentence
- Seven years and eight months
- Filing date
- November 3, 2026
- Court
- Suwon High Court
- Request length
- About 300 pages
- Alleged payment
- $700,000 in July 2019
1 source
What people are saying
Former Deputy Governor Lee is not eligible for parole