Jo Taeksang, Former Incheon Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs, Fined 500,000 Won for Election Law Violation

Former Incheon Deputy Mayor for Balanced Development and Political Affairs Cho Taeksang (64), who gave a support speech for a preliminary candidate while still a public official ahead of the June 1 local elections, was sentenced to a fine of 500,000 won, avoiding restrictions on his eligibility to run for office.

The Criminal Division 15 of the Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Ryu Hojung) ruled this on the 29th during the sentencing trial for Cho, who was indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act.

Under the Public Official Election Act, if a sentence of a fine of 1 million won or more is confirmed, the right to run for election is restricted for five years.

Cho was indicted for visiting the offices of two district mayor preliminary candidates twice in April last year, ahead of the June 1 local elections, and giving support speeches and taking commemorative photos in front of supporters while still a public official.

According to Article 60 of the Public Official Election Act, public officials under the National Public Officials Act and the Local Public Officials Act are prohibited from engaging in election campaigning.

Cho Taeksang, former Deputy Mayor for Political Affairs of Incheon City
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The court stated, "The defendant has a history of running in several public elections and was aware of the restrictions under the Public Official Election Act, yet made statements that undermined political neutrality and the fairness of elections while holding a public official position."

However, the court added, "Although the defendant was a public official at the time of the statements, actual work had ended the day before the offense, and it is difficult to see that the fairness of the election was seriously damaged," and explained the sentencing reasoning by considering that "the statements were made to members of a specific political party and that the defendant has no prior record of similar offenses."

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