Before the Certificate of Election Dries... 'Geumbaeji' Shaking Over the Pat and Election Laws

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The April 15 general election has just ended, but there are already those who must worry about losing their parliamentary seats. These are former Liberty Korea Party members who were prosecuted for the National Assembly fast-track clash incident last April and elected officials under investigation for election law violations. Depending on the trial results, they could lose the 'golden badge' they obtained after great hardship, leading to possible readjustment of the number of seats by the court.

According to political circles on the 17th, among the 24 former Korean Party leaders and lawmakers indicted for violating the National Assembly Advancement Act due to the fast-track incident, 9 were re-elected in the 21st general election. In particular, four elected officials?Kim Jeong-jae, Song Eon-seok, Yoon Han-hong, and Lee Man-hee?are judged to have serious charges and are undergoing trial through 'non-custodial formal trials.' Depending on the trial outcome, they may lose their parliamentary seats. A non-custodial formal trial means prosecution without detention and referral to a formal trial.

Five others, including Gwak Sang-do, Kim Tae-heum, Park Seong-jung, Lee Cheol-gyu, and Jang Je-won, who were classified under summary indictment due to lighter charges, are in a similar situation. There have been cases where courts have transferred summary indictments to formal trials if the matter was deemed serious.

The trials of these nine individuals were postponed due to the general election but will resume on the 28th. If a fine of 5 million won or more is confirmed, they will lose their parliamentary seats and be disqualified from running for office for five years. If a prison sentence or higher is confirmed, they may lose eligibility for ten years. Trials involving former floor leader Na Kyung-won and former party leader Hwang Kyo-ahn are also scheduled to proceed.

Within the Democratic Party of Korea, two members are undergoing non-custodial trials and one has been summarily indicted, but political circles judge that their charges are lighter than those of the United Future Party elected officials, making the possibility of losing their seats relatively low. The trials for these two members are scheduled for the 6th of next month.

Meanwhile, investigations into election law violations remain a hot topic in political circles. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced that 94 elected officials have been booked for election law violations during the April 15 general election, with 90 under investigation. By type, there were 467 cases (36.8%) of black propaganda offenders, 216 cases (17.0%) of bribery offenders, and 72 cases (5.7%) of public opinion manipulation offenders. The prosecution plans to complete investigations and handle cases before the statute of limitations for election law offenses (six months) expires on October 15.

The prosecution did not disclose the exact number of booked individuals by party. However, the most notable case involves Go Min-jeong, a Democratic Party elected official from Gwangjin-eul, Seoul. Go is under investigation after the election commission referred the case to prosecutors for distributing election materials containing support statements from a resident autonomy committee member without consent. Additionally, in Jongno, Seoul, the former party leader’s side filed a complaint with the Jongno Police Station, alleging that the Nakwon Arcade Merchants Association paid 400,000 won for food and beverages at a meeting held for Democratic Party elected official Lee Nak-yeon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.