Pastor in His 70s Fined for Urging Support for Specific Candidate Ahead of Presidential Election

"Violated Election Law Again While Stripped of Eligibility to Run for Office"

A well-known pastor of a large church, who had already been stripped of his eligibility to run for public office, has been sentenced to a fine in the first trial after being indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act by once again making a public statement in support of a presidential candidate.

On May 12, the 12th Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court (Presiding Judge Jang Wooseok, Senior Judge) announced that Pastor A (age 74), who had been indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act, was sentenced to a fine of 2 million won.

Pastor A was brought to trial on charges of declaring support for a particular party’s presidential candidate and criticizing a competing candidate using a microphone at a rally titled “Condemnation of Forces Suppressing Religious Freedom and the Separation of Powers,” held on Geumnam-ro in Dong-gu, Gwangju, five days before the 21st presidential election, on May 29 last year.

Exterior view of Gwangju District Court.

Pastor A, who serves as the senior pastor of a large church in Gwangju, was found to have conducted blatant illegal electioneering on stage at the rally attended by about 300 religious figures. He highlighted the integrity of a former president and the achievements of a certain candidate in attracting large corporations.

Notably, Pastor A had previously engaged in illegal electioneering during the 20th presidential election and, in August 2024, was sentenced to a fine and stripped of his eligibility to run for public office for five years. Although he was legally prohibited from participating in election campaigns, he committed the same offense again.

The court stated, “Less than a year has passed since the sentence became final, yet he violated the election law again while still stripped of his eligibility to run for office. The gravity of his wrongdoing is not light, and the potential for criticism is high.”

However, the court explained its sentencing by stating, “Taking into account that the speech lasted only about 15 minutes, which is not particularly long, and that it is unclear to what extent it actually influenced the presidential election result, the sentence was determined accordingly.”

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