Pastor Who Preached to Vote for a Specific Party Found Guilty Again in Second Trial Ahead of General Election

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] A pastor who preached voting for a specific party ahead of last year's general election was sentenced to a fine in the second trial, following the first trial.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 11th, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judges Yoon Seung-eun, Kim Daehyun, Ha Tae-han) recently ruled that Pastor Lee (62, male) was guilty of violating the Public Official Election Act, as in the first trial, but imposed a lighter fine of 500,000 won compared to the first trial's 700,000 won fine.

In March last year, Pastor Lee, who was the head pastor of a church in Songpa-gu, Seoul, said to 13 congregants during a service, "For the district vote, please vote number 2, everyone, Hwang Gyoan Elder Party," "A good party has been formed this time, the Christian Liberty Unification Party," and "For proportional representation, it's the Christian Liberty Party, understood?"

It is known that Pastor Lee made these remarks during the sermon with the intention that Christians should vote for a party that can represent them. The prosecution viewed Pastor Lee's remarks as "election campaigning using official duties," which is prohibited under the Public Official Election Act, and brought the case to trial.

The court pointed out that "this act makes election management difficult and risks undermining election fairness," but explained the sentencing by stating, "The number of people who heard the sermon was small, so the negative impact on the actual election was not significant."

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