The Seoul High Court on Friday convicted Lim Dong-won, former head of the nation's top intelligence agency, and three other key figures for their roles in a secret money transfer to North Korea that was effectuated ahead of the inter-Korean summit in 2000.

The Seoul High Court upheld the ruling of a lower court in delivering an 18-month suspended prison term to Lim for his role in masterminding the illegal transfer of US$500 million dollars to Pyongyang, in what appears to have been a reward for the North's agreeing to attend the historic inter-Korean summit.

Kim Yoon-kyu, president of Hyundai Asan Corp., which oversees Hyundai Group's North Korea-related projects, received a suspended one-year prison term.

Former Korea Development Bank (KDB) President Lee Keun-young and ex-KDB Vice President Park Sang-bae were given three and two-and-a-half year suspended prison terms, respectively, for their role in extending loans to Hyundai in an illegal manner.