Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Jun-ho has been sentenced to an invalid election ruling.
On September 18, the Gwangju District Court's Criminal Division 12, led by Chief Judge Jang Woo-seok, imposed a fine of 10 million won and a forfeiture of 50 million won on Jeong for violations of the Political Fund Act and the Public Official Election Act.
Two election office officials, also charged with violations of the Public Official Election Act, received fines ranging from 4 million to 7 million won.
Jeong, who represents the Gwangju Buk-gu Gap district, was indicted for allegedly receiving 50 million won from a construction company representative in July 2023, nine months before the April 10 general election, in exchange for hiring his children as aides if he were elected.
Additionally, he faced charges for illegally providing cash to campaign workers and operating a phone promotion service between November 2023 and February 2024, ahead of the Democratic Party's candidate selection for the general election.
The case was initially dismissed in February of last year due to prosecutorial errors, but was reopened following a re-indictment by the prosecution.
Jeong's legal team argued that the statute of limitations had expired due to a lawsuit filed by an unauthorized party, but the court rejected this claim, stating that it did not undermine the principles of criminal procedure, such as the pursuit of substantive truth and the enforcement of state punitive authority.
Jeong stated that he plans to contest the issues surrounding the statute of limitations in the appellate court.
Under the law, if a lawmaker is convicted of violating the Public Official Election Act or the Political Fund Act and receives a fine of more than 1 million won, their election is deemed invalid.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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