Gyeongnam Provincial Election Commission Awards 6 Million Won to Informant Reporting Donation Violations

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Ju Cheol-in] Ahead of the 21st National Assembly election, the first reward payment decision for informants of violations of the Public Official Election Act has been made in the Gyeongnam region.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Election Commission held a reward deliberation committee meeting on the 22nd and decided to pay a reward of 6 million KRW to Mr. A, who reported donation activities related to a candidate for this general election.

Mr. A reported to the election commission in early December last year that a man in his 50s purchased candidate booklets worth about 450,000 KRW at a year-end gathering of a local group and distributed them free of charge to about 40 members of the group.

The election commission investigated these allegations and reported the man in his 50s to the prosecution. This reward payment decision is the first in Gyeongnam related to the April 15 general election.

In addition to the reward payment decision in the province, the provincial election commission stated that as of the 22nd, there have been two cases nationwide with a total reward payment decision amounting to 115 million KRW.

According to the Public Official Election Act, election crime rewards can be paid up to 500 million KRW to those who report serious election crimes such as bribery and donation acts, money or goods acceptance related to candidate nomination, defamation or false information publication, election-related acts by public officials, and illegal election opinion polls.

The reward deliberation committee determines the reward amount by comprehensively considering the specificity and credibility of the reported election crime, the severity of the crime, cooperation during the investigation of the informant, candidate recognition, and the election impact.

The provincial election commission urged people to report illegal acts, assuring that the identity of informants and reporters will be thoroughly protected by law.