Money Distribution Continues, 154 Candidates Prosecuted in Cooperative Head Election

Regarding the 3rd Nationwide Simultaneous Election of Nonghyup, Suhyup, and Forestry Cooperatives Presidents, a large number of election offenders in Gwangju and Jeonnam have been brought to trial.

The Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office announced on the 11th that it investigated a total of 301 election offenders and indicted 154 of them.

Among the elected candidates, 39 were booked, and 17 of them (including 1 detained and indicted) were brought to trial.

By type of offense, 212 were involved in bribery elections, 31 in smear campaigns, and 58 in other offenses. Bribery elections accounted for the highest proportion at 70.5%.

It is analyzed that the perception that illegal provision of money and goods significantly influences election outcomes has led to this crime type being the most prevalent.

A representative case of bribery involved elected cooperative president candidate A and others providing a total of 17.35 million won to 20 cooperative members and village chiefs.

A prosecution official emphasized, "We will strive to establish a fair and clean election culture through strict measures against bribery election offenders."

He added, "We will also make every effort to ensure that appropriate punishments corresponding to the illegality are imposed in ongoing trials."

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