"Lee Byung-chul Quantum" Claim Results in Suspended Prison Sentence
Court States "Exclusion from Political Sphere Necessary"
Heo Kyung-young, honorary representative of the National Revolutionary Party, was convicted by the Supreme Court and is barred from running in elections until 2034.
According to the legal community on the 9th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) finalized on April 25 the original court ruling that sentenced Heo, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act, to two years in prison with a three-year probation.
Heo was indicted for spreading false information by claiming during a TV broadcast speech in the 2022 20th presidential election that "I am the adopted son of the late Lee Byung-chul, chairman of Samsung Group, and a secret policy advisor to former President Park Chung-hee."
In court, Heo insisted that his claims were not false, but both the first and second trial courts found him guilty and sentenced him to a suspended prison term. The first trial court stated, "The defendant is highly likely to continue spreading false information to the social community or disclose it to voters in future elections after this ruling," and added, "It is necessary to exclude the defendant from the political arena."
Heo appealed, but the Supreme Court's decision was the same. According to Article 18 of the Public Official Election Act, if a suspended sentence is imposed for an election crime, the right to run for office is revoked for ten years from the date the sentence is finalized. Therefore, Heo is barred from running in elections until April 2034.
Heo began his political career in the 1991 local elections and ran in the 15th presidential election in 1997 and the 17th National Assembly election in 2004 but did not gain much attention. However, in the 2007 presidential election, he attracted attention with claims such as having an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 430 and plans to relocate the United Nations (UN) headquarters to Panmunjom, earning the nickname 'Heo Bonjwa.'
During this period, he caused controversy by stating that if he became president, he would marry former Grand National Party leader Park Geun-hye and that he attended President George Bush's inauguration dinner as a Korean representative. These statements led to his arrest on charges of violating election laws, and in 2008, a prison sentence of one year and six months was finalized. As a result, he was barred from elections for ten years and resumed his electoral challenges from 2020 after regaining his eligibility.
Recently, he is under police investigation for allegations of sexually assaulting followers at the religious facility 'Haneulgung' that he operates.
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