Changwon City Council Member Lee Jonghwa Sentenced to Invalidation of Election in Appeal for Election Law Violation

A Changwon City Council member who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act has been sentenced to invalidation of election in the appellate court as well.

The Busan High Court Changwon Branch, Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Min Dalgi, Judges Park Jiyeon and Park Gunhee), on November 26, dismissed all appeals from the defendant in the appellate trial of Jonghwa Lee, Democratic Party of Korea Changwon City Council member (representing Idong, Jaeun, Deoksan, and Pung-ho districts), upholding the original verdict.

The court also rejected the appeal of Mr. A, a man in his 50s who was the library director and was tried alongside Lee.

Jonghwa Lee, Democratic Party of Korea Changwon City Council Member. Provided by Changwon City Council

Assemblyman Lee was accused of arranging a dinner gathering at a restaurant in Changwon on January 29 last year, ahead of the 22nd National Assembly election, with then-preliminary candidate Hwang Kicheol of the Democratic Party of Korea for Changwon Jinhae District. At this gathering, Lee allegedly facilitated the distribution of business cards, greetings, and campaign pledge promotions, and provided food worth 12,000 won each to 21 people, including 16 voters from the constituency.

During the trial, Assemblyman Lee argued that he had invited candidate Hwang to a New Year's meeting at a children's library where he served as director, and that when he was told by then-director Mr. A that his card could not be used for payment, he simply lent money as a formality. However, the court did not accept this explanation.

The appellate court stated, "Although it was claimed that Assemblyman Lee paid on behalf of Mr. A because Mr. A's credit card had expired, the timing of when the card expiration was discovered and other statements regarding the payment situation were inconsistent or did not match the on-site CCTV footage. Furthermore, Mr. A had a card under his spouse's name at the time, which could have been used for payment. Therefore, it is difficult to accept the defendants' claims."

Previously, the court of first instance sentenced Assemblyman Lee to a fine of 1.5 million won, which corresponds to invalidation of his election, and imposed a fine of 1 million won on library director Mr. A.

Elected public officials lose their positions if they are convicted of violating the election law and receive either a prison sentence or a fine of 1 million won or more.

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