Shin Junghoon Fined 900,000 Won for Election Law Violation...Keeps Parliamentary Seat

Court: "Limited Impact on the Election"

Shin Junghoon, National Assembly member. Yonhap News

Shin Jung-hoon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Naju and Hwasun in South Jeolla Province, who was indicted on charges of encouraging "double voting" during the Democratic Party's primary for the 22nd general election, has avoided having his election invalidated.

The 12th Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court (Presiding Judge Park Jaeseong) sentenced Representative Shin to a fine of 900,000 won on the 17th for violating the Public Official Election Act.

Representative Shin was indicted on charges of encouraging about 20 constituents to vote twice during the Democratic Party primary on March 4 last year, about a month before the general election, by concealing their status as party members and urging them to vote as ordinary citizens as well.

A video was submitted as evidence in which Representative Shin is heard saying, "If they ask if you are a party member, you should say 'No' so that you can vote in the public opinion poll for ordinary citizens."

The court stated, "It is recognized that the defendant requested false responses in the opinion poll in order to induce double voting by party members."

However, the court added, "The impact on the election was limited, and despite the revelation of these facts, Representative Shin was elected in both the primary and the general election. Considering the need to respect the party's ideology and the people's choice, we do not sentence a penalty that would invalidate his election."

According to the election law, if a sentence of a fine of 1 million won or more for an election crime is confirmed, the election is invalidated. Therefore, if this sentence is finalized as is, Representative Shin will be able to retain his seat.

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