Rep. Hong Seok-jun Fined 7 Million Won in First Trial for Alleged Election Law Violation

First Case of Election Nullification in the 21st National Assembly

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Hong Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act, was sentenced to a fine in the first trial, which corresponds to a disqualification from election. This is the first case in the 21st National Assembly where a disqualification sentence was handed down for violating the Public Official Election Act.

The Criminal Division 1 of the Daegu District Court Western Branch (Chief Judge Kim Jeong-il) sentenced Representative Hong to a fine of 7 million KRW on the morning of the 17th. The court stated, "Although the defendant's crime is highly blameworthy, we considered that the money was provided as a reimbursement for actual expenses related to the party primary and election campaign." According to the Public Official Election Act, if a fine of 1 million KRW or more is confirmed, the elected position is lost and the right to run for office is revoked for five years.

Earlier, Representative Hong was prosecuted for having volunteers make about 1,200 promotional phone calls during the preliminary candidate period when only he was allowed to promote by phone. He was also charged with paying about 3 million KRW in cash to one volunteer who was not registered as a campaign worker.

During the trial, Representative Hong denied the charges and claimed innocence, but the court did not accept this. The court ruled, "The defendant conspired with other defendants to directly conduct phone campaigning to become the United Future Party candidate in the 21st National Assembly election," and "The violation of the party primary was planned, organized, and targeted at unspecified constituents."

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