Court Suspends Sentence on 50s Man for 'Weapon Intrusion' at Oh Se-hoon Candidate's General Election Campaign Site in Appeal Trial

A man in his 50s, Mr. A, who stormed into the campaign site of then United Future Party candidate Oh Se-hoon just before the April 15 general election, wielding a weapon, is being arrested by police officers at the scene. / Yonhap News TV screen capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] A man in his 50s who stormed the campaign site of then United Future Party candidate Oh Se-hoon during the April 15 general election carrying a weapon was again sentenced to a suspended prison term in the appellate court.

According to the legal community on the 14th, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Ham Sang-hoon, Kim Min-ki, Ha Tae-han) dismissed the appeal of A (52), who was indicted on charges of special intimidation and violation of the Public Official Election Act, upholding the first trial’s sentence of one year in prison with a two-year suspension and probation.

The court stated, “It is reasonable to view that the defendant rushed at the victims with a weapon as if to stab them, thereby threatening them.”

A was prosecuted for approaching Oh’s campaign vehicle with a weapon and threatening at a campaign site in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, on April 9, just before the April 15 general election.

Investigations revealed that A committed the crime because he was disturbed by Oh’s campaign speech near his home.

In the appellate trial, A’s side argued that he only chased the campaign vehicle carrying a weapon and did not threaten anyone, but this claim was rejected.

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