Hong Seok-jun 'Assemblyman' Flame Revived... Sentence Reduced in Election Law Violation Appeal, 'Assemblyman Position Maintained'

Assemblyman Hong Seok-jun.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Hong Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party representing Daegu Dalseo-gu Gap, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act and sentenced to a disqualification from office in the first trial, received a reduced sentence in the appeal trial, keeping the possibility of retaining his parliamentary seat alive.

The Criminal Division 1-3 of the Daegu High Court (Presiding Judge Jeong Seong-wook) overturned the original sentence of a 7 million won fine and sentenced Hong to a 900,000 won fine on the 22nd in the appeal trial for violating the Public Official Election Act.

Once the sentence in the appeal trial is finalized, Hong will be able to maintain his position as a member of the National Assembly.

Hong was indicted for having volunteers make about 1,200 promotional calls while he was a preliminary candidate who could only promote himself by phone, and for paying cash to one unregistered volunteer. He appealed after being fined 7 million won in the first trial.

In the appeal trial, Hong argued, "There should be a dismissal ruling because the prosecution's right has expired regarding the violation of the party primary campaign method."

A dismissal ruling (免訴) in criminal proceedings is a judgment that eliminates prosecution due to the expiration of the prosecution's right.

The appellate court accepted the defendant's argument that a dismissal ruling should be made since the revised election law in December last year excluded pre-election campaigning by phone from punishable offenses.

However, the court found partial guilt regarding the charge of providing money to unregistered campaign workers.

The court stated, "Although the defendant violated the legislative intent of the Public Official Election Act and the guilt is not light, considering that it did not affect the election results and that he served the region, sentencing him to disqualification from office would be harsh."

Regarding this ruling, Hong said, "I apologize for causing concern to the local residents and thank the court for revealing the substantive truth."

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