Nonghyup Union Chief Who Gifted Fruit to Members... Supreme Court Rules "Against Social Norms"

Fruit Set Gift to Specific Union Member... Court Says "Unusual Considering Existing Practices"

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Supreme Court has ruled that a local agricultural cooperative chairman giving fruit gift sets to cooperative members using the cooperative's budget violates social norms.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Min Yoo-sook) announced on the 22nd that it upheld the lower court's ruling, which sentenced Mr. A to a fine of 2 million won in his appeal trial on charges of violating the Act on Public Organizations and Consigned Elections (Consigned Election Act).

Mr. A, chairman of a local agricultural cooperative in Gangwon Province, was prosecuted for delivering 29 pear gift sets worth about 1.13 million won (29 sets priced at 39,000 won each) to 29 cooperative members about five months before the 2019 election. It was investigated that Mr. A also gifted tangerines and Hallabong oranges worth a total of 123,000 won to three cooperative members and brought a beverage box worth 32,000 won to a former chairman who was hospitalized. These costs were initially recorded as credit and later paid under the cooperative's advertising and publicity expenses or production guidance expenses.

The prosecution judged that Mr. A violated the Consigned Election Act, which prohibits donation acts during the term of office. The Consigned Election Act bans donation acts by agricultural cooperative chairmen and central association presidents during their terms, allowing limited exceptions for ‘official acts’ or ‘ceremonial acts’.

The first and second trials found Mr. A guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 2 million won. It was reflected in the sentencing that the gift sets Mr. A gave did not have the cooperative sticker usually attached to gifts provided at the cooperative level, and the employee who ran the errand told cooperative members that the gifts were from the chairman personally, not the cooperative.

The Supreme Court also agreed with the lower courts' judgment. The bench stated, "Considering that the donation was unusual compared to existing practices and taking into account the relationship between the defendant and the recipients, the donation act cannot be regarded as an act ‘not violating social norms.’"

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