Byungno Lee, Damyang County Governor, Claims "No Fact of Lawyer Fee Payment on My Behalf" - Feels Wronged

Lee Byeong-no, the mayor of Damyang County, expressed his innocence regarding the allegation that he paid the legal fees of a campaign official who was jointly indicted with him for violating election laws, stating, "This is not true."

The 12th Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court held the final trial on the 16th for Lee and eight campaign officials indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act.

Lee was prosecuted for illegally donating 200,000 won as condolence money to an acquaintance on March 6 last year, ahead of the June 1 local elections.

He is also accused of paying the legal fees (2.25 million won per person) on behalf of eight campaign officials who were jointly indicted for election law violations.

In his closing argument, Lee’s defense attorney argued, "When issues arose during the defendant’s election campaign and a campaign official was investigated by the police, the defendant merely introduced or recommended an in-house lawyer from a law firm he had known for a long time, without any intention to pay the legal fees."

The attorney explained, "Until this case became an issue, the defendant had only paid 2 million won to that law firm for his own case."

He emphasized, "Some co-defendants provided their personal information themselves and paid the legal fees directly to retain lawyers."

However, he pointed out, "Even if the court holds a different view, the legal services in question occurred after the local elections had ended and had no impact on the election."

Furthermore, he requested, "Please take into deep consideration that this case is unrelated to voter bribery or election corruption during the election process and that it did not undermine election fairness."

The defense attorney appealed, "The defendant served as a public official at Damyang District Office for about 40 years and was elected mayor after retirement. He goes to work every day at 8 a.m. with the attitude that answers lie in the field, visiting sites personally to practice communication administration that residents can feel."

He continued, "Please make a judgment that leaves no injustice so that the mayor can carry out key projects and fulfill his duties."

Regarding the allegation of illegal donation by giving condolence money to an acquaintance, he countered, "While the fact itself is acknowledged, it stemmed from a deeply personal motive in a 35-year friendship and does not violate social norms, thus negating illegality."

The prosecution demanded fines ranging from 1.5 million to 3 million won and prison sentences from eight months to one year and six months for the nine defendants. Among them, Lee was sentenced to one year and six months in prison, which results in loss of office.

The verdict for this case is scheduled for December 8.

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