The Supreme Court has upheld a two-year prison sentence for Kwon Seong-dong, a member of the People Power Party, who was convicted of receiving illegal political funds from the Unification Church. As a result, Kwon has immediately lost his parliamentary seat under the National Assembly Act and the Public Official Election Act.
On July 16, the Supreme Court's second division, led by Justice Eom Sang-pil, confirmed the lower court's ruling, which sentenced Kwon to two years in prison and ordered him to forfeit 100 million won. This final decision comes nine months after Special Prosecutor Min Jung-ki indicted Kwon. Consequently, Kwon has lost his parliamentary position as mandated by law.
Kwon was charged with receiving 100 million won in cash from Yoon Young-ho, a former head of the Unification Church's world headquarters, on January 5, 2022, ahead of the 20th presidential election. The funds were allegedly solicited in exchange for support for the church following the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
During the trial, Kwon acknowledged meeting Yoon for a meal but denied receiving any money. He claimed that Yoon was fabricating evidence to deflect attention from his own embezzlement allegations.
However, both the first and second trial courts found Kwon guilty based on various objective pieces of evidence presented by the special prosecutor's team. Key evidence included Yoon's diary and mobile message records.
Yoon's diary contained a clear entry from the day of the incident stating, "Kwon Seong-dong lunch - support of a large amount." Additionally, a message sent to Kwon immediately after the meal read, "What I gave today is small, but I hope you can use it effectively for the presidential candidate." These messages were deemed strong evidence supporting the conviction.
Kwon's legal team argued that the investigation did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Kim Geon-hee special prosecutor law and claimed that the key evidence was obtained illegally, thus lacking evidentiary value. However, the court rejected all of Kwon's arguments.
The Supreme Court stated, "There was no misunderstanding of the law regarding the relevance of the search warrant, the exclusionary rule for illegally obtained evidence, or the right to cross-examine that affected the ruling," ultimately dismissing Kwon's appeal. Yoon, who provided the funds to Kwon, was already sentenced to prison after his conviction was confirmed by the Supreme Court on July 9.
Following the Supreme Court's ruling, Kwon issued a statement on his Facebook account, saying, "With today's Supreme Court ruling, all judicial procedures against me have concluded." He expressed disappointment over the factual determinations and legal applications but stated he would humbly accept the court's final judgment.
However, Kwon characterized the incident as political retaliation by the current government, expressing a desire for the political vendetta to end with him.
With Kwon losing his parliamentary seat, a by-election will be held in his constituency of Gangneung, Gangwon Province.
Meanwhile, the ruling on the appeal concerning Kim Geon-hee's alleged stock manipulation and receipt of funds from the Unification Church, which was initially scheduled for today, has been postponed to July 24. This delay follows the special prosecutor's request to review the guilty verdict against former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is implicated as a co-conspirator in the polling fraud case.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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