‘Violation of Public Official Election Act’ Sangjik Lee, Guilty Confirmed... Loss of Parliamentary Seat

Providing Traditional Liquor Worth 26 Million Won to Voters... Inducing Duplicate Voting in Primary
Law: "Highly Criticizable for Obstructing Fair Election"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] Independent lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, who was sentenced to disqualification from election in both the first and second trials for violating the Public Official Election Act, has lost his position as a member of the National Assembly following the confirmation of his guilt. If a member of the National Assembly is sentenced to a fine exceeding 1 million won for violating the Public Official Election Act, their election is invalidated.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Cheon Dae-yeop) on the 12th upheld the original sentence of 1 year and 4 months imprisonment with a 2-year probation in the final appeal trial of Lee, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act.

Lee was prosecuted for providing traditional liquor and booklets worth about 26 million won to 377 constituents in three instances from January to September 2019 while serving as the president of the Small and Medium Venture Business Corporation.

He was also accused of conspiring with city council members and others to send mass text messages encouraging duplicate voting to general and rights party members during the party primary for the 2020 general election. Additionally, Lee faced charges of making false statements on an internet broadcast in January 2020 regarding the circumstances of his elimination in the previous party primary, as well as including false information in election campaign materials.

Both the first and second trials recognized Lee’s criminal acts as guilty and sentenced him to 1 year and 4 months imprisonment with a 2-year probation. The trial courts stated, "The defendant, as a representative of the people, had a responsibility to strive for fair elections more than anyone else, but he abandoned that responsibility and committed the offenses in this case, thereby obstructing the realization of fair elections, which is highly condemnable," and pointed out, "Despite having a criminal record for violating restrictions on primary election campaign methods, he committed offenses again."

The Supreme Court also ruled that "there is no error in the lower courts’ judgments such as violating the rules of logic and experience, exceeding the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misunderstanding the law," affirming the correctness of the lower courts’ decisions.

Although Lee has lost his seat, a by-election for his constituency, Jeonbuk Jeonju-eul, will not be held in the local elections scheduled for the 1st of next month. This is because by-elections for National Assembly seats only apply to constituencies where the vacancy occurred by the previous month.

Separately from this case, Lee is currently on trial for embezzlement and breach of trust related to Eastar Jet and was sentenced to 6 years in prison in the first trial in January, after which he was taken into custody in court.

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