Maintain Parliamentary Seat
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Park Seon-jun, a Jeonnam Provincial Assembly member from Goheung 2 and the grandson of 'Parkchigi King' Kim Il, who falsified his alma mater, received a heavier sentence in the appellate court.
On the 15th, the 1st Criminal Division of the Gwangju High Court (Presiding Judge Lee Seung-cheol) overturned the original sentence that had suspended a 700,000 KRW fine in the appeal trial of Assemblyman Park, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act (false academic background), and sentenced him to a fine of 800,000 KRW.
Elected public officials are disqualified if a fine of 1,000,000 KRW or more is confirmed for violating the Public Official Election Act, but since the sentence was less than that, he retained his position as an assembly member.
Assemblyman Park was prosecuted for including phrases on his business cards and election campaign materials during the April 7 by-election last year that could mislead people into thinking he had attended an elementary school located in Goheung, Jeonnam.
He only completed the first grade at that elementary school before transferring to Seoul and graduating there.
He admitted all charges and pleaded for leniency, while the prosecution appealed, arguing that the original sentence was too light and unfair.
The court ruled, "The defendant publicly announced false information about his academic background to gain an advantage for election purposes, and considering the circumstances and method of the crime, the nature of the offense is not good."
Furthermore, the court explained the sentencing rationale, stating, "In public elections, a candidate's academic background is one of the key pieces of information that allows voters to make accurate judgments," and "This caused voters to be misled about the candidate's academic background."
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