Former Campaign Office Manager of Assemblyman Shin Youngdae Receives Suspended Sentence in Appeals Court... Election to Be Nullified if Upheld

Allegations of Manipulating Primary Polls Before General Election
Court: "Considered the Narrow Margin Over Rival Candidate"

The former office manager of Assemblyman Shin Youngdae’s campaign office, who was accused of bribing voters during the Democratic Party of Korea’s 22nd general election primary last year, has received a suspended prison sentence in the appellate court as well. If this ruling is upheld by the Supreme Court, Assemblyman Shin’s election victory will be nullified.

Shin Youngdae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering the opening remarks at the "Battery Response Measures Discussion for the Launch of the New U.S. Government" hosted by the Secondary Battery Forum held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

On August 28, the Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Kim Jongho) sentenced Kang, the former office manager of Assemblyman Shin’s campaign office, to one year in prison with a two-year suspension and 120 hours of community service for violating the Public Official Election Act. This is the same sentence as in the first trial. The court also sentenced Shin’s former aides, Shim and Jeong, who played leading roles in the crime, to one year and four months in prison each, identical to the first trial’s ruling.

The court stated, “This case was carried out in an organized and premeditated manner, severely undermining the fairness of the election and violating the intent of the Public Official Election Act. The fact that the primary was particularly important in this constituency and that the margin of victory over the rival candidate was not large were also taken into consideration.” The court also acknowledged evidence suggesting Assemblyman Shin’s involvement in the conspiracy.

The court explained, “Before the main opinion poll began, Shim created a key KakaoTalk chatroom and delivered instructions for active response, and Assemblyman Shin was present in the group chat. On the day of the opinion poll, information such as completed regions and age groups was actively shared in the chatroom.”

The court further stated, “Money and valuables were exchanged with the intent of ensuring Assemblyman Shin’s nomination as the candidate. The timing of when the recipients expressed their support does not affect the application of the Public Official Election Act.” Kang had previously argued that the incident occurred before he was officially registered as the campaign office manager.

If this ruling is confirmed by the Supreme Court, Assemblyman Shin’s election will be nullified in accordance with the election law. According to the Public Official Election Act, if the office manager of a National Assembly campaign office is convicted of bribery or inducement of interest-either before or after appointment-and receives a prison sentence or a fine of 3 million won or more, the election of the corresponding assemblyman is invalidated.

Kang is accused of providing 15 million won and 100 mobile phones to Lee, the former secretary-general of the Gunsan Disabled Sports Association, around December 2023, and instructing him to submit false responses in the Democratic Party’s primary opinion poll for Gunsan, Gimje, and Buan-gap in North Jeolla Province for the 22nd general election. Assemblyman Shin narrowly defeated former Assemblyman Kim Euigyeom by less than one percentage point and was nominated in March last year.

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