[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon said on the 6th that "the ideal of socialism that captivated us in our youth has been realized like this today" regarding the sentence of election invalidation given to Eun Soo-mi, mayor of Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province, in the appellate court.
On the same day, Jin posted on his Facebook, stating, "Even though the regime has changed, the power has not changed. Eun Soo-mi was a member of Sanomaeng, the South Korean Socialist Workers' Alliance, along with Cho Kuk."
He said, "The mainstream of Korean society has been replaced. In the past, conservatives were the mainstream. Therefore, they mainly enjoyed the vested interests of society," adding, "However, with the impeachment incident, conservatives fell, and progressives became the mainstream of society. Naturally, the vested interests also came to be held by them."
He continued, "The cartel of vested interests connected through blood ties, regional ties, academic ties, and political connections has already firmly taken root in the base of this society," and said, "Cases like Cho Kuk, Yoo Jae-soo, and Song Cheol-ho are merely expressions of this situation. Because of this, it feels like something has been turned upside down."
Then, Jin said, "Now, the progressives who enjoy vested interests are trying to undermine the standards of justice, while conservatives are rather claiming to restore justice."
He also said, "In the past, conservatives did the agitation, and progressives were logical, but now progressives are doing the agitation, and conservatives have started to use logic clumsily. It is hard to adapt, but soon we will get used to it."
On the same day, Mayor Eun, who was indicted on charges of violating the Political Funds Act, was sentenced to election invalidation in the appellate court.
The 1st Criminal Division of Suwon High Court (Chief Judge Noh Kyung-pil) overturned the original sentence of a 900,000 won fine and sentenced her to a 3 million won fine.
The court stated, "Considering the circumstances and duration of the defendant receiving vehicle driving labor and the scale of economic benefits obtained, the defendant's actions greatly betrayed the responsibility for the sound development of democratic politics and trust related to political activities as a politician," and "She forgot the basic attitude of a politician serving the people, which is highly blameworthy."
Mayor Eun was non-detained indicted on charges of illegally receiving political funds equivalent to transportation expenses by receiving vehicle convenience 95 times from Komatrade and Choi from June 2016 to May 2017 for about a year for her political activities.
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