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Kumnan Methodist Church

The Supreme Court determined that a Kumnan Methodist Church pastor appears to be guilty on charges of submitting forged documents to a court after paying a fine to an overseas missionary group, and recommended another ruling by the high court.

The Supreme Court’s first division under Justice Kim Shin ruled on June 7 to overturn an appellate court ruling sentencing pastor Kim Hong-do, 79, to eight months in prison suspended for two years, finding him only partially at fault on charges of defamation through printed materials. Instead, the court said it was sending the case back for retrial by Seoul Bukbu District Court while acknowledging Kim’s guilt on the chief charges, including forgery of a private document.

Kim was ordered by a US court to pay US$14.17 million in penalties after failing to honor a pledge to operate a church in North Korea with a contribution of US$500,000 from a US missionary group. He subsequently faced a suit in South Korea demanding judgment execution, leading to his indictment on charges of submitting forged and/or falsified documents to the court.

Kim was taken into court custody with a two-year prison sentence in his first trial, but was freed with a suspended sentence after being acquitted on most charges by the second court.

The Supreme Court ruled that there were “ample grounds for recognizing gross negligence in terms of recognizing the forgery and/or falsification and accepting the risk of its being seen as criminal, in that he was aware the document was forged or falsified and intended to use it anyway.”

By Yeo Hyeon-ho, senior staff writer

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