Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, has been sentenced to a fine of 1.5 million won in the second trial of the public election law violation case. This is the same sentence as in the first trial.
If a fine of more than 1 million won is confirmed for violating the election law, voting rights will be revoked for five years, and election campaigns cannot be conducted. However, if the sentence is not confirmed before this presidential election, there will be no legal restrictions on Kim's election campaign.
The Suwon High Court Criminal Division 3, presided over by Judge Kim Jong-ki, held a ruling session on the afternoon of the 12th regarding the appeal of Kim's public election law violation case and sentenced him to a fine of 1.5 million won. This amount is the same as the sentence handed down by the first trial court last year.
Kim is accused of providing a meal worth 104,000 won to three spouses of former and current members of the Democratic Party and six of his drivers and aides at a restaurant in Seoul on Aug. 2, 2021, after candidate Lee declared his intention to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
The first trial court found Kim guilty of violating the public election law and sentenced him to a fine of 1.5 million won. The court determined that "the defendant made a donation by paying for a meal while meeting with Shin, who could help Lee Jae-myung's campaign after his spouse announced his candidacy for the 20th presidential election, and that the donation was made through Bae, who was a public servant at the time." It also noted that "the defendant denied the charges and appeared to shift the responsibility onto Bae, a former deputy director and Kim's secretary."
If Kim receives a fine of 1.5 million won confirmed by the Supreme Court, he will be deprived of voting rights for five years and will not be able to campaign. However, as long as the sentence is not confirmed before this presidential election, there are no restrictions on Kim's campaign.
Candidate Lee also does not suffer any disadvantages. The public election law states that if the spouse of a candidate is convicted of a prison sentence or fined more than 3 million won for alleged donation activities in the relevant election, the candidate's election shall be deemed invalid; however, Lee was defeated in the 20th presidential election, so this does not apply.