Supreme Court Confirms 700,000 Won Fine for Jang Youngha, Author of 'Goodbye, Lee Jae-myung,' for Election Law Violation

Jang Young-ha, a lawyer known as the "Lee Jae-myung sniper" for writing books about family conflicts involving Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, such as 'Goodbye, Lee Jae-myung' (2021) and 'Goodbye, Criminal' (2024), has been sentenced to a fine for violating the Public Official Election Act.

According to the legal community on the 10th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Lee Dong-won) upheld the original court ruling that sentenced lawyer Jang to a fine of 700,000 KRW for violating the Public Official Election Act (violation of restrictions on the use of loudspeakers).

Author of 'Goodbye, Lee Jae-myung,' Lawyer Jang Young-ha. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

The court stated the reason for dismissing Jang's appeal was that "there was no error such as failure to conduct necessary hearings for the original judgment, violation of the rules of logic and experience, exceeding the limits of free evaluation of evidence, misunderstanding of the law regarding joint principal offenders, mistake of law, election campaigning, scope of annulment, or violation of the rules of evidence."

Jang was indicted for holding a microphone and campaigning at the "National Resolution Rally for the Establishment of Fairness and Common Sense" held in Gyeyang-dong, Gyeyang-gu, on May 26, 2022, ahead of the by-election for Incheon Gyeyang-eul.

Article 91, Paragraph 1 of the Public Official Election Act (Restrictions on the Use of Loudspeakers and Vehicles) stipulates that "No one shall use loudspeakers for election campaigning except in cases of speeches, debates, or discussions held in public places as prescribed by this Act," thereby prohibiting the use of loudspeakers for election campaigning except for certain permitted cases such as public rallies or debates by candidates.

At the time, Jang said, "I have long watched the guy who fled from Bundang to Incheon Gyeyang," and "The election votes for each district mayor and Gyeyang-eul are important in this local election."

Other participants also said, "We must help the President establish a righteous Korea based on fairness and common sense," or targeted Lee by saying, "We must drive him out to Seongnam," and were indicted along with Jang.

The first trial court sentenced Jang to a fine of 700,000 KRW. YouTuber Kim, who conducted illegal election campaigning in places other than the resolution rally, was fined 3 million KRW, and the other participants of the rally were fined 700,000 KRW each.

Jang argued in court, "I attended the event and gave a speech upon request without knowing the name or nature of the event, speaking only about how precious freedom is," and "It was unrelated to election campaigning aimed at the election or defeat of a specific candidate, and I did not conspire with the other defendants."

However, the court judged, "Considering that the statements were made in the election area where the by-election was scheduled just five days before the by-election, and that all defendants made statements implying the importance of voting in the by-election or referring to candidate Lee Jae-myung running in the election, clearly showing the intention to cause the defeat of the candidate, the acts of the defendants are objectively recognized as election campaigning aimed at causing the defeat of candidate Lee running in the by-election."

Jang also claimed that the use of the loudspeaker was decided by other defendants and that he had no prior consultation with them, so he could not be punished as a co-conspirator.

However, the court rejected this, stating, "Considering the circumstances and motives of the defendant's attendance at the rally, the content of the defendant's speech, and the means of speech, it can be sufficiently recognized that the defendant conspired with the other co-defendants attending the rally to jointly commit this crime."

Jang appealed, but the second trial court made the same judgment.

The Supreme Court also found no problem with the second trial court's judgment.

Meanwhile, Jang ran as a candidate for the National Assembly in Seongnam Sujeong-gu, Gyeonggi Province, in the 22nd general election with the nomination of the People Power Party but was defeated.

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