Rep. Hong Seok-jun Fined 7 Million Won for Election Law Violation... First Disqualification in 21st National Assembly

At Daegu District Court's First Trial Verdict

The photo shows candidate Hong Seok-jun leading at Seongseo Yongsan Market in Dalseo-gu, Daegu City, on April 13. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongwook Park] Hong Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party (Daegu Dalseo-gap), who was indicted on charges of violating the election law, was sentenced to a penalty that nullifies his election. This is the first case in the 21st National Assembly where a penalty nullifying election results was imposed for violating the Public Official Election Act.

The Criminal Division 1 of the Daegu District Court Seobu Branch (Presiding Judge Kim Jeong-il) sentenced Representative Hong to a fine of 7 million KRW at the first trial on the 17th. If a sentence of 1 million KRW or more is confirmed, the parliamentary seat is lost.

Representative Hong was prosecuted for having volunteers make about 1,200 promotional calls during the preliminary candidate election campaign period, when only he was allowed to make promotional calls by phone. He is also accused of paying about 3 million KRW in cash to campaign workers for the party primary and general election campaigns.

Hong’s side argued in court, "We acknowledge that a member of the election camp made promotional calls, but we neither instructed nor conspired to do so," but the court did not accept this.

The court explained the sentencing rationale, stating, "The election law violation was planned and organized, seriously undermining election fairness, so the culpability is not light and the blameworthiness is high. However, considering that there is no prior criminal record and that he contributed to regional development while serving as the Daegu City Economic Director, these factors were comprehensively taken into account."

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