Supreme Court Overturns and Remands 2nd Trial Verdict of Asan Mayor Park Kyung-gwi for Election Law Violation Leading to Election Nullification Sentence

Court: "No 'Lawsuit Record Receipt Notice' Sent to New Lawyer... Constitutes Violation of Law"

Park Kyung-gwi, the mayor of Asan City who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act and found guilty in both the first and second trials, will undergo a retrial for the second trial. The Supreme Court ruled that there was an illegality affecting the judgment because the second trial court did not send a 'Notice of Receipt of Litigation Records' to the newly appointed defense attorney.

Supreme Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Kim Seon-su) on the 25th overturned the original ruling that sentenced Mayor Park to a fine of 15 million KRW in the appeal trial for violating the Public Official Election Act and remanded the case to the Daejeon District Court.

Mayor Park was prosecuted for spreading false information about Oh Se-hyun, former mayor of Asan City and his opponent in the 8th nationwide simultaneous local elections in 2022. Mayor Park publicly announced false facts regarding the sale of real estate by former Mayor Oh, and the prosecution charged him with violating the Public Official Election Act.

Both the first and second trials found Mayor Park guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 15 million KRW. The issue arose during the second trial. Unlike the first trial, Mayor Park appointed a private defense attorney during the appeal process, but the second trial court held the trial and sentenced him to the same fine of 15 million KRW without sending a Notice of Receipt of Litigation Records to the newly appointed defense attorney.

The Supreme Court found that the second trial court committed an illegality by omitting the Notice of Receipt of Litigation Records to the private defense attorney during the litigation procedure. The court pointed out, "Since the appointment of the public defender was canceled and a private defense attorney was appointed, the original court should have sent the Notice of Receipt of Litigation Records separately to the defendant and the defense attorneys appointed by the defendant, but the judgment was rendered without sending the notice."

Furthermore, the court ruled, "Since the original ruling is overturned due to a violation of the law in the original trial procedure, the judgment on the remaining grounds for appeal is omitted, and the case is remanded to the original court for retrial and reconsideration."

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