Former Seoul Taekwondo Chief Jailed for Falsifying Promotions for Son-in-Law

A former head of the Seoul Taekwondo Association has been sentenced to prison for fabricating promotion tests to secure employment for his son-in-law within the Taekwondo community. The appellate court overturned an earlier acquittal, handing down a sentence of eight months.

The court found the former association head, identified as Mr. Im, guilty of obstructing business. He was accused of orchestrating a fraudulent Taekwondo 1st-dan promotion test in March 2011. At the time, his son-in-law, Mr. Lee, was working in a regular office job and had no prior Taekwondo experience. Investigations revealed that Mr. Lee was only informed of the promotion test on the morning it was scheduled.

An former executive vice president of the association, who was also acquitted in the first trial, received a sentence of four months in prison, suspended for two years. The court determined that this executive had implicitly cooperated in the scheme, aware that the promotion test was fraudulent.

This ruling contrasts with the initial judgment, highlighting the appellate court's different assessment of the evidence and the extent of the involvement of the association's former leaders in the fraudulent activity.