Prosecution Requests 1.5 Million Won Fine for Kim Hong-gul's 'Underreporting of Assets'

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The prosecution requested a fine equivalent to disqualification from election for lawmaker Kim Hong-gul, who was brought to trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.

At the sentencing hearing for Representative Kim held on the 27th at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Presiding Judge Kim Miri), the prosecution asked the court to "impose a fine of 1.5 million won on the defendant." If an elected official is sentenced to a fine of 1 million won or more for violating the Public Official Election Act, their election is invalidated.

Kim, the third son of former President Kim Dae-jung, was brought to trial on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act for omitting a commercial land worth 1 billion won under his spouse's name and rental deposits for commercial and apartment properties in his asset disclosure before last year's general election. Subsequently, Kim was expelled from the Democratic Party.

Kim claimed innocence, arguing that the underreporting of assets was merely an error caused by a staff member's simple mistake and was not intentional, and that it did not affect the election outcome.

However, the prosecution stated, "The Democratic Party nominates candidates on the premise of disposing of houses other than the primary residence, and the government also recommends multi-homeowners to dispose of their properties." They added, "It appears that the defendant had sufficient motive to underreport assets to offset the image of being a multi-homeowner," and argued, "The purpose of election and intentionality are recognized."

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