'Violation of Election Law' Shin Sang-jin, Seongnam Mayor, Fined 800,000 Won in First Trial

Shin Sang-jin, mayor of Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, who was prosecuted for allegedly disseminating false information during last year's June 1 local elections, was sentenced to a fine in the first trial.

Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Power Party candidate for the by-election in Bundang-gap, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, is appealing for support while holding hands with Shin Sang-jin, the People Power Party candidate for Seongnam mayor, at the launch event held at Yatap Station Square in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province on May 19 last year. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 25th, the Criminal Division 1 of Suwon District Court Seongnam Branch (Presiding Judge Kang Dong-won) sentenced Mayor Shin, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act (pre-election campaigning and dissemination of false information), to a fine of 800,000 won.

If this sentence, which is lower than the disqualification sentence (a fine of 1,000,000 won), is finalized, Mayor Shin will be able to retain his position.

The court also sentenced Park, a member of Mayor Shin’s election campaign staff who was jointly indicted for leading meetings with sports clubs and declarations of support, to a fine of 800,000 won.

Mayor Shin was indicted on charges of attending meetings with 48 sports clubs ahead of the June 1 local elections last year, making statements, and posting false claims on election campaign SNS that he had received declarations of support from 20,000 members of these organizations.

Immediately after the verdict, Mayor Shin stated, "This ruling is the result of the court’s careful review of the prosecution’s excessive indictment. Justice has been served."

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