Park Sangdon, Mayor of Cheonan, Revived by Retrial Decision, Says "Will Strive to Prevent Administrative Vacuums"

Supreme Court: Not Guilty of Spreading False Information, Guilty of Using Public Official Organization
Cheonan City Relieved to Have Avoided Administrative Vacancy

Mayor Sangdon Park held an emergency press conference at the Cheonan City Hall briefing room immediately after the ruling and shared his thoughts on the Supreme Court's decision.

Park Sangdon, the mayor of Cheonan, who was on trial for violating the Public Official Election Act, will be able to retain his position as mayor following the Supreme Court's decision to remand the case.

On the 12th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyunghwan) overturned the appellate court's ruling, which had sentenced Mayor Park to one year in prison with a two-year suspended sentence for violating the Public Official Election Act, and sent the case back to the Daejeon High Court.

Mayor Park was put on trial for allegedly planning and conducting election campaigns using his status as a public official (electioneering using public office) during the 8th nationwide local elections in 2022, and for publishing the unemployment and employment rates of Cheonan City, omitting the population standard in election materials (false information dissemination).

The court of first instance acquitted Mayor Park, but the appellate court found him guilty. The appellate court overturned the first-instance verdict, ruling that Mayor Park had at least implicit intent by failing to verify the truthfulness of the published information.

The Supreme Court explained that for implicit intent to be established, Mayor Park must have been aware that the metropolitan standard was omitted from the promotional materials, but it was difficult to conclude that he knew this.

However, the Supreme Court did find Mayor Park guilty of using the public official organization to produce election promotional videos and upload them to his personal YouTube account.

Immediately after the Supreme Court's ruling, Cheonan City expressed relief at having avoided an unprecedented administrative vacuum.

After the verdict, Mayor Park held an emergency press conference in the briefing room of Cheonan City Hall to share his thoughts on the Supreme Court's decision.

Mayor Park said, "I sincerely apologize for causing concern to citizens in various ways," and added, "I was unable to completely dispel the anxiety of those who trusted and waited for me in many aspects."

He continued, "Since there was no objective reason to commit illegal election fraud, the task remains to convince the appellate court again of my innocence regarding the election law violation."

He also emphasized that there would be no administrative vacuum due to judicial risks.

Mayor Park stated, "As promised to the citizens, I will continue to lead the city administration normally until a final and conclusive verdict is reached," and added, "I will do my utmost to prevent any administrative vacuum."

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