People Power Party's Kim Seon-gyo Loses Parliamentary Seat... 'Illegal Fundraising' Accounting Officer's Fine Confirmed

Kim Seon-kyo, a member of the People Power Party representing Gyeonggi Yeoju·Yangpyeong, who was prosecuted on charges including collecting illegal donations, was acquitted by the Supreme Court on the 18th, but lost his parliamentary seat due to the fine imposed on the election office's accounting manager who was prosecuted alongside him.

On the day, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) upheld the lower court's verdict of acquittal in Kim's appeal trial on charges including violation of the Political Funds Act. The accounting manager, Mr. A, was fined 10 million won.

Earlier, Kim and others were prosecuted on October 8 of the same year for allegedly collecting donations exceeding the annual limit of 150 million won ahead of the March-April 2020 general election, and for failing to issue receipts for cash donations. They were also charged with using illegally collected donations as election expenses, exceeding the election expense limit of 219 million won set by the Public Official Election Act.

The first and second trials acquitted Kim, stating, "There is suspicion that he was involved in election office expenditures, but there is no evidence to confirm this."

However, Mr. A was fined 8 million won in the first trial and 10 million won in the second trial. The second trial court said, "As the accounting manager, Mr. A appears to have been aware of expenditures exceeding election expenses," and added, "Nevertheless, he did not admit the charges or show remorse, instead shifting responsibility, which reflects poorly on his character."

According to current law, if an election office accounting manager is sentenced to a fine of 3 million won or more for violating the Political Funds Act, the member of the National Assembly loses their seat.

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