Second Trial on 'Illegal Election Campaign' Charges: Kim Eo-jun Fined, Joo Jin-woo Acquitted

Kim Eo-jun, head of Ddanzi Ilbo (left), and Joo Jin-woo, former reporter of SisaIN, are attending the second trial sentencing hearing related to election law violations held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu on the afternoon of the 11th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Broadcaster Kim Eo-jun and former SisaIN reporter Joo Jin-woo, who were fined 900,000 won each in the first trial for 'illegal election campaigning,' were sentenced to fines of 300,000 won and acquittal, respectively, in the appellate trial.

On the afternoon of the 11th, the appellate court, Seoul High Court Criminal Division 6-3 (Presiding Judges Kang Kyung-pyo, Won Jong-chan, Jeong Chong-ryeong), sentenced Kim, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act, to a fine of 300,000 won, and acquitted Joo.

They were prosecuted for illegal election campaigning just before the 19th general election in 2012. At that time, they publicly supported Democratic United Party candidates Jeong Dong-young and Kim Yong-min in front of the public, announced the holding of rallies in advance through social networking services (SNS), and conducted election campaigning using loudspeakers.

The first trial sentenced Kim and Joo to fines of 900,000 won each. It recognized most of the charges as guilty, including the use of loudspeakers and holding illegal rallies to prevent the election of Saenuri Party candidates. However, it judged most of the parts where the two used loudspeakers to support Kim Yong-min's election as not guilty.

The first trial court explained the sentencing reason, stating, "The defendants were in a minority or vulnerable position regarding the then regime, but they actively engaged in media activities to expose the misconduct and failures of the president and the regime, thereby contributing to the development of democracy."

They requested the court to refer a constitutional review during the first trial, and only the part prohibiting election campaigning by journalists was referred for constitutional review, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in 2016. In the appellate trial, they also filed a constitutional complaint regarding the holding of rallies during the election period, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in 2018.

Based on this, the appellate court recognized only one count of election campaigning using loudspeakers by Kim as guilty among several charges. The other charges involving the use of loudspeakers were judged to be speeches, talks, or debates in public places permitted under the Public Official Election Act.

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