Prosecution Indicts Namyangju Mayor Jo Gwang-han for Violations of Public Official Election Act and Public Officials Act

Mayor Cho denies charges... 6 others including 1 public official also indicted

Jokwanghan, Mayor of Namyangju City

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Cho Gwang-han, mayor of Namyangju City, Gyeonggi Province, has been indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and the Public Officials Act.

The Criminal Division 6 of Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Seong-dong) announced on the 4th, "Cho Gwang-han, mayor of Namyangju City, Gyeonggi Province, has been indicted without detention on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and the Local Public Officials Act." The prosecution also indicted six others, including public official A, on the same charges.

Mayor Cho is accused of being involved in and assisting former Blue House Secretary Kim Bong-jun, who ran in the Democratic Party's Namyangju-eul district primary from February to July 2019, in recruiting party members ahead of the April 15 general election last year.

Mayor Cho denied the charges, stating, "I was not involved in the general election."

The Public Official Election Act and Article 57 of the Local Public Officials Act prohibit public officials from participating in elections.

The prosecution believes that Mayor Cho instructed A to assist former Secretary Kim.

Earlier, after receiving a complaint alleging that Mayor Cho was involved in the general election, the prosecution conducted a search and seizure of the mayor's office and secretariat in September last year and investigated Mayor Cho as a suspect earlier this year.

At that time, the Democratic Party's Namyangju-eul district primary was contested between incumbent lawmaker Kim Han-jung and former Secretary Kim, with lawmaker Kim winning both the primary and the general election to secure re-election.

Lawmaker Kim was indicted on charges of providing expensive whiskey to constituents and was sentenced to a fine of 1.5 million won in the first trial, to which he appealed.

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