Former Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Lee Jeong-geun Confirmed Guilty of 'Election Law Violation'

Guilty Verdicts in Both 1st and 2nd Trials... Supreme Court Upholds Lower Court Rulings

Lee Jeong-geun, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison for accepting bribes worth 1 billion KRW, received a suspended prison sentence in a separate case involving violations of the Public Official Election Act.

According to the legal community on the 19th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) upheld the original ruling that sentenced Lee to 6 months in prison with a 1-year suspension and a fine of 2 million KRW for charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and the Political Funds Act. The Supreme Court stated, "There is no error in the lower court's judgment regarding the establishment of the crimes of violating the Public Official Election Act and the Political Funds Act."

Jeong-geun Lee, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Korea. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee, who ran as the Democratic Party candidate for Seoul Seocho-gap in the March 9, 2022, re-election and by-election, was prosecuted for paying a total of 8.04 million KRW to seven campaign workers responsible for telephone promotion. Under the Public Official Election Act, providing money related to election campaigning is prohibited. Lee had the campaign office's accounting manager make the payments on his behalf, which also led to charges of receiving political funds from the accounting manager (violation of the Political Funds Act).

Additionally, he was accused of receiving several million KRW from prospective candidates in relation to nominations during the June 1 local elections held the same year. Both the first and second trial courts found Lee guilty of all charges. Lee appealed, but the Supreme Court's decision remained the same.

Lee is currently serving a prison sentence after the Supreme Court confirmed a 4 years and 2 months sentence last December for accepting 1 billion KRW in money and valuables from businessman Park, under the pretext of various favors including public institution personnel appointments and election expenses for the 21st general election. During the investigation, audio recordings found on his mobile phone, known as the 'Lee Jeong-geun recordings,' became a key piece of evidence in the 2021 Democratic Party convention money envelope distribution and acceptance scandal.

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