Urban Zakapa Park Yongin Sentenced to 1 Year Prison

The Criminal Appeals Division 3 of the Seoul Eastern District Court (Presiding Judge Oh Jae-seong) held the first hearing for the appeal of Park Yong-in, a member of the group Urban Zakapa, who was indicted for violating the Food Labeling and Advertising Act, and proceeded to the final hearing on the 29th. The prosecution reiterated its request for a one-year prison sentence for Park.

Park and his company, Virtue Company, which he represents, are accused of distributing and selling four types of beer at convenience stores and other locations from June 2022 to January 2023, advertising them on social media and other platforms as if they contained butter, despite not actually using butter as a raw ingredient.

In February of last year, the first trial court sentenced Park to eight months in prison with a two-year suspension of sentence, and Virtue Company to a fine of 10 million won. The prosecution appealed, deeming the sentence lighter than their initial request (one year in prison).

The prosecution cited "false and exaggerated advertising to numerous consumers, with profits reaching billions of won" as reasons for the appeal, arguing that the original sentence was too lenient. Accordingly, they requested a one-year prison sentence, the same as their initial request.

Park's side argued for the dismissal of the appeal, stating through his lawyer that "Park did not appeal while in self-reflection, and there are no grounds to change the original sentencing." In his final statement, Park said, "​I apologize for causing trouble."