{ "story_id": "5979bcc2886f2acfb91da2bad85a7f1c", "desk": "drm3", "revision": 1, "published_at": "2026-09-03T04:44:13.000Z", "content_hash": "c2a62eb4da637a59d0922b59cf9538a3a785676beb0bf750b2864859c7759a3a", "hash_basis": "sha256 over `headline\\ndek\\nprose`, plus `\\n` + the canonical citations JSON when any source is placed, plus `\\n#blog` for blogs", "basis": { "headline": "Man who fled without paying record 653.7 billion won fine arrested after 7 years", "dek": "Seoul prosecutors arrested a gold smuggling convict who evaded a 653.7 billion won fine, the largest unpaid fine on record.", "prose": "According to unnamed legal circles, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office arrested a man in his 50s, identified only as Mr. A, on 2026-01-21 in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, after he had been evading payment of a fine for roughly seven years. [^1]\n\nKim Seung-won, the candidate for South Korea's Minister of Justice, stated on 2025-06-03 that his request for expedited processing of a COVID-19 treatment's clinical trial approval by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) was a transmission of a public interest complaint, not a solicitation. [^2]\n\nAfter property evaluation procedures, Mr. A's unpaid fine was calculated at 653.7 billion KRW, the highest unpaid fine ever recorded in South Korea. [^3]\n\nIn 2019, a first-instance court sentenced Mr. A to 2 years and 6 months in prison and a fine of 1.3247 trillion KRW; on appeal this was reduced to 1 year and 4 months and 662.3 billion KRW, and the Supreme Court of South Korea ultimately upheld the reduced sentence. [^4]\n\nUnder Article 69 of the South Korean Criminal Act, Mr. A was immediately imprisoned after his arrest for the unpaid fine; if he does not pay, he faces up to about 2 years and 8 months of labor detention, with release possible in 2029. [^5]\n\nKim Seung-won's campaign team announced on 2025-06-03 that the 2021 request was made to ensure domestic SMEs were not unfairly delayed in clinical trial procedures during the pandemic. [^6]\n\nProsecutors determined that requesting expedited processing of a clinical trial plan approval during the COVID-19 pandemic does not constitute an illegal solicitation. [^7]\n\nThe Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office issued a non-prosecution decision to Kim Seung-won in December 2024, citing the lack of direct financial exchange and the difficulty in determining the illegality of the solicitation. [^8]\n\nOn October 12, 2021, Kim Seung-won sent a text message to then-MFDS Director Kim Kang-rim requesting that specific teams process a clinical trial application faster. [^9]\n\nThe controversy is compounded by Kim Seung-won's role as a co-representative of a lawmaker group advocating for the dismissal of charges against President Lee Jae-myung, which the ruling party is using to question his fitness for the Justice Ministry. [^10]\n\nThe ruling party, People Power Party, argues that a non-prosecution recommendation is neither a finding of no crime nor innocence and demands Kim Seung-won's withdrawal from the nomination. 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