‘Election Law Violation’ Geoje Mayor Park Jong-woo and Spouse to Appear in Court Separately in July

Park Jong-woo, mayor of Geoje, Gyeongnam, and his spouse, who were each indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, are scheduled to appear in court consecutively this month.

According to the legal community on the 4th, the first appellate trial for Mayor Park's spouse, A, will be held at 2:40 p.m. on the 5th at the Changwon branch of the Busan High Court.

A was indicted for donating a total of 10 million KRW, 5 million KRW each over two days in July 2021, to a temple in Geoje, and was sentenced to a fine of 2.5 million KRW in the first trial in May.

A's side appealed, claiming innocence, and the prosecution also filed an appeal, arguing that the sentence was unfair.

At that time, the court ruled guilty, stating, "Mayor Park was repeatedly mentioned as a candidate for the next mayor in the media and responded to media interviews, confirming he was indeed a candidate. Moreover, A donated to a temple she does not usually attend, and the 10 million KRW is difficult to consider as a typical donation."

Considering that the transfer was made to her own account at a time somewhat distant from the election, the court found the illegality of the donation and its relation to the election to be somewhat weak, and did not accept the prosecution's request for a 10-month prison sentence.

Jong-woo Park, Mayor of Geoje, Gyeongnam.
[Photo by Geoje City Hall]

The first trial for Mayor Park will be held at 2 p.m. on the 20th at the Tongyeong branch of the Changwon District Court.

Mayor Park was reported to the Geoje Election Commission on charges of involvement in providing 13 million KRW in three installments through an acquaintance to a staff member of National Assemblyman Seo Il-jun’s office, in exchange for recruiting party membership applications, providing party member lists, and promoting on social networking services (SNS) ahead of last year’s nationwide local elections.

He was not prosecuted in December last year due to insufficient evidence, but the Geoje Election Commission filed a review request against this decision, which was recently accepted by the Changwon branch of the Busan High Court, leading to a trial.

The trial was originally scheduled for the 6th, the day after A’s trial, but was changed at Mayor Park’s request.

Last month, Mayor Park stated in a press release, "I will faithfully participate in the trial, which will proceed according to the procedures prescribed by law," and added, "I believe the trial will reveal that there was no problem with the prosecution’s decision not to indict."

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