Former Chairman Kang Young-kwon of Edison Motors [Provided by Edison Motors]

A case has emerged where a party, citing the recently enacted 'law distortion crime,' has filed a lawsuit against a first-instance judge for disagreeing with the verdict.

Following a partial acquittal in the trial concerning alleged 'Ssangyong Motor buyout deception' involving Kang Young-kwon, former chairman of Edison Motors, affected shareholders have retaliated by filing a complaint against the presiding judge with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

On the 16th, as reported by Yonhap News Agency, Mr. A, the general representative of the Smart Solutions (formerly Edison EV) shareholder solidarity, submitted a complaint to the CIO on the 14th via the National Civil Appeals System, requesting the punishment of Chief Judge Kim Sang-yeon, the first-instance presiding judge, for abuse of power and law distortion.

Mr. A told Yonhap News Agency, "The first-instance verdict contained absurdities and contradictions that excluded the damages of 130,000 small shareholders," claiming that an appropriate judgment was not reached due to the judge's violation of evidence assessment rules, misunderstanding of legal principles, and failure to make rulings.

While concerns have been raised that the introduction of the 'law distortion crime' could lead to complaints and accusations against frontline criminal judges, this is the first known real-life case, apart from the one involving Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, which is considered the 'Case No. 1'.

Chief Judge Kim, who presided over the Criminal Panel 13 of the Seoul Southern District Court, sentenced former Chairman Kang, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Capital Markets Act, to three years in prison and a fine of 500 million won on the 3rd of last month.

However, considering that Mr. Kang had been detained for a considerable period, he was not taken into custody at the court. Notably, he was acquitted of charges of breach of trust and bid rigging under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Mr. Kang was brought to trial on charges of receiving illicit profits of 162.1 billion won by inflating Edison EV's stock price through positive news and false disclosures related to the pursuit of Ssangyong Motor's acquisition from May 2021 to March 2022.

At the time, Edison Motors was selected as the preferred negotiator for the Ssangyong Motor acquisition, but the merger ultimately fell through due to its inability to pay the remaining acquisition funds. In the process, Edison EV's stock price plummeted, leading to delisting procedures, and numerous small shareholders incurred losses.

The shareholders who suffered substantial losses are of the opinion that they cannot accept the first-instance court's judgment.

Indeed, immediately after the first-instance verdict for Mr. Kang, Mr. A stood up from the gallery and shouted, "Kang Young-kwon must not be let off. 130,000 people have been harmed. This is money made from the blood, sweat, and tears of shareholders," before being escorted out.