Sangcheol Lee, Gokseong County Governor, Sentenced to Election Nullification in Appeal Trial

A fine corresponding to a sentence that nullifies election results was also requested in the appellate trial for Lee Sang-cheol, former mayor of Gokseong County, Jeonnam, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act.

On the afternoon of the 18th, the prosecution requested a fine of 7 million won at the final trial of Mayor Lee held under the jurisdiction of the 1st Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court (presiding judge Park Hye-seon).

The same sentence was requested for former public official A, who was also indicted on the same charges.

The prosecution stated, "The crimes of bribery and inducement under the Election Act are by no means light compared to any other crimes in terms of statutory penalties."

They added, "Considering comprehensively the circumstances leading to the defendants' joint crime, their social status, and their behavior during the investigation and trial, the original sentence is excessively lenient."

In his closing argument, Mayor Lee's defense attorney emphasized, "There seem to be no unfavorable circumstances for the defendant that were not considered in the original trial, nor any additional sentencing reasons newly submitted by the prosecution in this appellate trial," and stressed, "Rather, only the defendant's sincere attitude of remorse has been confirmed."

The defense attorney reiterated the defendant's remorse, including withdrawing the appeal reasons statement, and appealed for leniency.

The sentencing trial is scheduled to be held at 2:20 p.m. on the 19th of next month.

Mayor Lee was indicted last year on June 8, along with 21 others including election staff, on charges of providing meals worth about 5.5 million won to 69 people including election campaign workers at a Korean beef specialty restaurant in Gokseong County, Jeonnam.

At that time, the meal was paid for in advance by an acquaintance of Mayor Lee using a credit card, but the election staff staged the scene by placing a donation box and falsely collecting meal expenses, even taking photos to create the appearance of fundraising.

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