'Illegal Political Fund Receipt'... Moon Jun-hee, Hapcheon County Governor, Loses Governor Position

Received 15 Million KRW from Junior Construction Contractor... 1st and 2nd Trials, 2 Million KRW Fine

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Moon Jun-hee, the Hapcheon County Governor who was prosecuted for receiving illegal political funds from local construction contractors ahead of the local elections and repaying them, has lost his position as governor.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Cho Jae-yeon) on the 17th upheld the lower court's ruling sentencing Governor Moon to a fine of 2 million KRW and a confiscation of 10 million KRW in the final appeal for violating the Political Funds Act. If an elected official is sentenced to a fine of 1 million KRW or more for violating the Public Official Election Act or the Political Funds Act, their election is invalidated and they lose their office.

Governor Moon was indicted on charges of receiving a total of 15 million KRW in illegal political funds from local construction contractors ahead of the 2018 local elections. Subsequently, it was investigated that Governor Moon repaid 20 million KRW, including an additional 5 million KRW on top of the political funds received from the contractors.

Article 31 of the Political Funds Act stipulates that "foreigners, domestic and foreign corporations or organizations may not donate political funds."

Governor Moon's side denied the charges in court, claiming that he returned the money with interest to the construction contractors and that the money was not given in exchange for favors.

However, both the first and second trials recognized Governor Moon's charges and sentenced him to a fine of 2 million KRW and a confiscation of 10 million KRW. The appellate court stated, "The defendant and the local construction contractors were elementary school seniors and juniors, and it appears that the funds were provided with the expectation of tangible or intangible benefits later. The amount received by the defendant cannot be considered small, and he does not seem to sufficiently reflect on his wrongdoing."

The Supreme Court also agreed with the lower courts' judgment.

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