Lee Sang-heon, a former member of the Democratic Party, has received a suspended prison sentence for accepting bribes related to proportional representation nominations for local council elections. As a result, he is barred from running for public office for the next 10 years.
The Supreme Court's second division, led by Justice Kwon Young-jun, confirmed on November 12 the lower court's ruling that sentenced Lee to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, along with a fine of 3 million won and a forfeiture of 42 million won for violating political funding and anti-corruption laws.
Lee was indicted for allegedly receiving 22 million won in cash from an individual identified as A in April 2018, during his campaign for a by-election in Ulsan's Buk-gu. He promised A a proportional representation nomination for the upcoming local elections in exchange for the money.
After A was disqualified from the proportional representation nomination review, Lee is also accused of accepting an additional 19 million won in 2022, promising A another nomination for the local council elections.
The first trial court found sufficient evidence, including text messages and call records exchanged between Lee, campaign staff, and A. Notably, a phone call in which Lee thanked A for the money was a key piece of evidence.
The court stated, "Illegal acceptance of political funds undermines the democratic order of political parties and obstructs representative democracy," leading to the sentence of 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, and a fine of 3 million won.
The second trial court upheld the first trial's decision and rejected Lee's appeal.
A, who provided the illegal political funds, received an 8-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, along with a fine of 300,000 won. B, the head of Lee's campaign, was sentenced to 6 months in prison, suspended for two years, while two other campaign associates received fines of 2 million won and 3 million won, respectively. A and B did not appeal the second trial's ruling, confirming their sentences.
Although Lee and the other defendants filed further appeals, the Supreme Court dismissed them, stating there was no violation of logical reasoning or misinterpretation of the law in the lower court's judgment.
Under the political funding law, a confirmed prison sentence or a fine of over 1 million won results in disqualification from running for office, rendering any election victories invalid. This means individuals cannot run for public office, including National Assembly elections, for a period of 10 years.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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