Namyangju Mayor Jo Gwang-han 'Legally Detained' for Election Law Violation... City Enters Acting Authority System

Mayor Cho, "People Who Helped Elections for Profit Have Slandered Me"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Jo Gwang-han, mayor of Namyangju City, who was indicted for ordering city officials to recruit Democratic Party members ahead of the 21st general election, was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison and 1 year of disqualification in the first trial and was taken into custody in court.

The Criminal Division 11 of Uijeongbu District Court announced on the 15th, "The charges against Jo Gwang-han, mayor of Namyangju City, who was indicted for violating the neutrality obligation of public officials under the Public Official Election Act and violating the Local Public Officials Act, are recognized," and delivered the sentence accordingly.

The court stated, "Although the influence on the general election was minor, the crime is serious as it undermines the fairness of the election and the political neutrality of public officials," and added, "Considering the use of mayoral authority to intervene in the election, the considerable duration of the crime, and the high possibility of condemnation," explaining the sentencing rationale.

In the prosecution's closing argument in December last year, they demanded 3 years imprisonment and 2 years disqualification for Mayor Jo.

Mayor Jo and his lawyer claimed innocence, stating, "People who helped the election for vested interests slandered me out of dissatisfaction when things did not go their way," but the court did not accept this.

Earlier, Mayor Jo was indicted on charges of instructing his political secretary to recruit party members to support Kim, a prospective candidate who was a former Blue House secretary under the Moon Jae-in administration, during the Democratic Party's internal primary to select the candidate for Namyangju-eul in the April 15, 2020 general election.

In this primary, incumbent lawmaker Kim Han-jung was selected as the candidate, and the prospective candidate Kim was eliminated.

After the general election, Democratic Party member A reported Mayor Jo, who belongs to the same party, for violating the Public Official Election Act and other charges.

Meanwhile, following Mayor Jo's detention, Namyangju City has prepared a plan for the Administrative Planning Office Director to act on mayoral authority and the Welfare Bureau Director to act on vice mayoral authority, and decided to follow guidelines from the Ministry of Personnel Management.

The vice mayor retired honorably at the end of last year, and Gyeonggi Province, which had conflicts over audit issues, has not appointed a successor, leaving the vice mayor position vacant.

Namyangju city officials are engulfed in an atmosphere of bewilderment over Mayor Jo's detention in court.

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