▲ Son Jung-woo's father comes out after the 'Welcome to Video' criminal extradition 


Prosecutors and lawyers stood tight for about an hour in the courtroom to determine whether the repatriation of Son Jung-woo (24), the operator of the world's largest child sexual exploitation site 'Welcome to Video', was repatriated.

Prosecutors claimed permission to repatriate the crimes, according to data and evidence that accused Mr. Son of conducting international cooperation in the United States.

On the other hand, Mr. Son's lawyer expressed his refusal to repatriate due to the principle of non-individuality and fear of further punishment.

The lawyer expressed his opinion that "we must guarantee that we are not punished for child pornography charges in the United States" during a humanitarian investigation hearing that was held at the hearing of 20 copies of the Seoul High Court today (Judge Chan-Kyung Kang).

The attorney was based on the provisions of Article 10 of the Extradition Law, which states that the extradition (United States) guarantees that criminals are not punished for crimes other than those subject to extradition.

This has to do with the situation of Mr. Son, who has already been punished in Korea.

He was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in jail for alleged distribution of sexual exploitation.

Separately, Mr. Son was charged with nine allegations of child pornography in 2018 by the U.S. federal grand jury, and at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, the prosecution requested a criminal extradition.

In accordance with the principle of prohibition of double punishment, only the alleged money laundering charges that have not been prosecuted in Korea have been considered for extradition.

Therefore, Mr. Son insisted that the United States should guarantee that even if they are returned to the United States, they will not be punished for allegedly spreading child sexual exploitation, except for money laundering, which is a crime targeted for delivery.

The lawyer also insisted, "In the United States, prosecution was also accused of distributing child pornography, and it does not punish conspiracy crimes under the Korean Penal Code, which also violates the principle of prohibition against criminal justice and double punishment."

In response, prosecutors also refrained from penalizing extradition other than the extradition, even in the Treaty of Extradition, which precedes the extradition law.

Son's lawyer also claimed that money laundering, a crime targeted for delivery, was innocent because of lack of evidence.

It is alleged that when the prosecution initially prosecuted Son, the evidence was insufficient and the charges of stealing criminal proceeds were not applied.

The lawyer said, "It was managed by transferring or reinvesting cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin to a number of exchanges at home and abroad." "The prosecution thinks that the issue was not seen (unlike in the United States, it is not a crime)," he said.

However, the prosecution said, "It is difficult to uncover the transaction related to Bitcoin that Mr. Son did without significant tracking with the United States."
The judge asked the prosecutors to confirm their position by the end of this month by confirming the details of the investigation and details of the investigations that were not separately charged for stealing crime proceeds when investigating Mr. Son at the time.

Prosecutors say that Mr. Son used his father's cell phone name and passbook account to hide the crime revenue, but the lawyer claims that he only used his father's name for various authentication procedures.

The prosecution said that Son's father sued Mr. Son for the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office for alleged violations of the Crime Profit Concealment Act. "If the trial continues or is confirmed by the extradition law, it is absolutely grounds for rejection," said the prosecution. "It can't be done, and the prosecution is considering the investigation."

Today, Son was not present, and only Son's father went to court.

Son's father met reporters shortly after the trial and said, "Sin is serious, but I feel sorry to send it over there."

The judges held another question on the 16th of next month and decided to deliver immediately that day.

On this day, the judge decided to summon Mr. Son and proceed with the process of hearing the position.

(Photo = Yonhap News)

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