The main opposition Democratic Party(DP) protested Friday's court conviction of former Gyeonggi Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young for colluding with a local underwear maker to make an illegal remittance to North Korea.

DP spokesperson Hwang Jung-a said it is difficult to understand the court's acceptance of a considerable part of the prosecution's claims, when the state agency's concocted investigation has come to light.

She cited a revelation that former Ssangbangwool chairman Kim Seong-tae had reversed his testimony due to the prosecution's appeasement and pressure and a state spy agency report containing circumstances suggesting that the company had engaged in stock manipulation behind the North Korea project.

Calling for history's judgment of the prosecution for its alleged fabrication to suppress the opposition, Hwang anticipated the truth to be revealed in the appeals trial.

Earlier on Friday, the Suwon District Court sentenced Lee to nine-and-a-half years, finding him guilty of colluding in Ssangbangwool's transfer of three-point-94 million U.S. dollars to the North between 2019 and 2020 when DP leader Lee Jae-myung was the governor.

The remittance consisted of one-point-64 million dollars to fund the province's smart farm project in the North and two-point-three million dollars to facilitate Lee Jae-myung's trip to the regime.