Sentenced to 1 Year and 2 Months in Prison with 2 Years Probation in First Trial for 'Violation of Public Official Election Act' Including Providing Mung Bean Sprouts
Commissioner Kim's Side Argues "Not a Donation Act but a Business Activity"... Se
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Kim Sam-ho, mayor of Gwangsan District, Gwangju, who was sentenced to nullification of election in the first trial for illegal election campaigning in collusion with local public enterprise employees, has been again sentenced to imprisonment.
On the 21st, the prosecution requested a two-year prison sentence at the appellate trial presided over by Judge Lee Seung-cheol of the 1st Criminal Division of the Gwangju High Court.
Mayor Kim was indicted on charges of recruiting 4,116 party members by mobilizing employees of the Gwangsan District Facilities Management Corporation, who were not allowed to campaign for the purpose of winning the party primary for mayor between July and October 2017, and distributing promotional materials for social networking service (SNS) dissemination.
He is also accused of providing about 150 boxes of mung bean sprouts worth 4 million won and golf expenses worth 300,000 won to about 150 employees who helped recruit party members.
Mayor Kim served as the chairman of the corporation until July 28, 2017.
Kim’s defense attorney stated, "Election campaigning requires an official declaration of candidacy and a call for support," but added, "However, (Kim) did not publicly declare his candidacy at that time."
He emphasized, "For recruiting party members to be considered as primary election campaigning, it is necessary to objectively prove that there was an appeal for support for a specific candidate or that it was related to winning the primary," and "Each recruited party member must be individually reviewed."
Among those who helped recruit party members, the purposes varied, including some who had in mind running for local elections, and about 400 to 500 of the recruited party members were residents from areas other than Gwangsan District, which was used as supporting evidence.
The defense also argued against the charge that Mayor Kim colluded with the representative of an agricultural cooperative located in Gwangsan District to give the corporation employees mung bean sprouts as a bribe.
The defense stated, "The agricultural cooperative has been donating to volunteer organizations since 2012," and "Donations to the corporation began in 2015," denying any connection to the election.
They added, "Since mung bean sprouts must be shipped within 2-3 days from the factory or else discarded, there is also an aspect of cost-saving," and defined it as "not a donation but a business transaction."
Regarding the golf entertainment, they explained, "(Kim) was the organizer of the golf gathering at the time and invited a close senior’s husband, who was also a university senior, for the first time and paid the expenses."
On this day, witness examinations of two public enterprise employees were also conducted.
Witness A submitted a party membership application at the 'labor union office within the corporation' in August 2017, listing the address as 'Gwangsan-gu,' where his nephew lives, instead of Seo-gu, where he actually resides.
The prosecution questioned whether there was an intention to participate in the Gwangsan District mayoral primary, but A denied it.
According to evidence disclosed in the trial, a total of 15 people, including seven employees of the public enterprise recommended by A, joined.
Regarding this, A said, "I don’t know why (I) was used as a recommender."
The sentencing trial for Mayor Kim will be held on December 23. If a fine of 1 million won is confirmed for violating the Public Official Election Act, Mayor Kim’s election will be nullified.
Meanwhile, during the appeal trial, Mayor Kim filed a request for a constitutional review to the Constitutional Court, arguing that the Public Official Election Act excessively restricts primary election campaigning, and the Constitutional Court accepted it.
The Constitutional Court ruled that Article 60, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5 of the Public Official Election Act, which prohibits full-time executives and employees of local public corporations and corporations from campaigning, violates the principle of proportionality and infringes on the freedom of political expression.
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