The nation's judicial branch has come under harsh criticism over a controversial court ruling that allowed a convicted property developer to pay off a 25.4 billion won (US$23.66 million) fine with just 50 days of prison labor. The controversy began in 2010 when a district court in the southwestern city of Gwangju gave Huh Jae-ho, the former chairman of now-bankrupt Daeju Group, an option of working off the fine for embezzlement and tax evasion through prison labor.