DaeYu Winia Group Chairman Park Young-woo Sentenced for Wage Theft

Park Young-woo (박영우), the 70-year-old chairman of DaeYu Winia Group, was sentenced to four years in prison on February 19, 2025, by the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court. He faced charges of violating labor laws and embezzlement, specifically for failing to pay wages and severance totaling approximately 39.8 billion KRW to 738 employees from October 2020 to December 2023, as well as embezzling 1 billion KRW from company funds.

The court also sentenced Park's cousin, Park Hyun-cheol (박현철), CEO of Winia Electronics, to three years in prison with a four-year probation, while Kim Hyuk-pyo (김혁표), CEO of Winia, received a two-year prison sentence with a three-year probation. An Byung-deok (안병덕), former CEO of Winia, was sentenced to six months in prison with a two-year probation.

The judges emphasized the importance of timely wage payments, stating, "The wages of workers are tied to the livelihoods of their families. Many workers have petitioned for severe punishment for the defendant, and considering the suffering of their families, strict penalties are necessary." They noted that Park, as a business manager, should have taken steps to prevent wage arrears but instead attempted to evade responsibility.

According to prosecutors, Park was accused of withholding wages and severance payments from employees while receiving approximately 49.9 billion KRW in wages and severance from affiliated companies. Investigations revealed that he regularly received reports on wage arrears and made financial decisions through the group’s secretariat.

Additionally, Park and other executives are suspected of transferring 1 billion KRW to his personal account just 30 minutes before filing for corporate rehabilitation on October 4, 2023, without following necessary procedures for company fund disbursement. Prosecutors believe this was an attempt to misappropriate funds before the rehabilitation process began, which would limit their ability to use company money.

From July 2020 to May 2022, Park reportedly spent about 10.5 billion KRW on real estate purchases and construction of vacation homes using company funds. He also allocated 1.8 billion KRW for the interior renovation of a space designated for the chairman within the company. Furthermore, in December 2021, he used company funds to pay a 32 billion KRW deposit for acquiring Namyang Dairy Products, indicating misuse of company resources that contributed to the wage arrears.

Despite the ongoing wage issues, Park continued to receive substantial payments from the group, including 110 million KRW from the sale of the Montver CC golf course, which he prioritized for personal debt repayment.

The court acknowledged that Park received daily reports from the CEOs of affiliated companies and issued financial directives. However, they found him not guilty of embezzlement, stating that the evidence presented by the prosecution was insufficient to prove that the transfer of 1 billion KRW constituted embezzlement, as wage arrears began in earnest only in 2023 when the rehabilitation process was initiated.