Confirmed Invalid Election Sentence Leads to Taxpayer Money Spent on By-Election, Residents 'Boiling Mad'

Yeonggwang County Governor By-election Requires 1.5 Billion Won of 'Residents' Tax Money'

"Related Law on Burden by Cause Provider Must Be Revised," Voices Raised

There is a growing call for the party responsible to bear the election costs in cases of election invalidation due to violations of election laws, rather than due to the death or other unavoidable reasons of the head of the organization.

According to Yeonggwang-gun on the 9th, former county governor Kang Jong-man’s election invalidation sentence was confirmed, and a by-election will be held on October 16. Approximately 1.5 billion KRW is required for this election, which Yeonggwang-gun must bear.

On April 6th, early voting boxes from the National Assembly election were delivered to the Yeonggwang County Election Commission. The photo is not related to any specific article content. [Photo by Kim Geonwan yacht@]

On the 17th of last month, the Yeonggwang-gun Election Commission reportedly requested payment of 1.46688 billion KRW for managing the by-election expenses for the county governor.

Former governor Kang was indicted on charges of providing 1 million KRW to a distant relative who was a local media reporter in January 2022, five months before the 2022 local elections, seeking assistance.

On May 12, 2023, the first trial sentenced him to a fine of 2 million KRW, citing his past conviction of five years imprisonment for bribery, his detailed knowledge of election regulations yet committing the crime, and lack of remorse. The second trial held on November 30 of the same year upheld the original sentence. On May 17 of this year, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, confirming the election invalidation sentence.

The county paid 1.18 billion KRW, including common and specific expenses, to the election commission on the 2nd. The election commission is expected to request additional payment for the remaining 286.88 million KRW in reimbursement expenses.

Despite Yeonggwang-gun’s already strained finances, spending about 1.5 billion KRW of taxpayers’ money on the by-election costs imposes a significant financial burden, prompting residents to voice complaints that those responsible should be held accountable.

Since election laws stipulate that the relevant local government must bear the cost of re-elections, there are calls to amend the related laws.

Resident A said, "I cannot understand why taxpayers’ money must be used for re-election costs caused by an individual’s wrongdoing," and added, "There needs to be a legal amendment to recover costs from the person responsible."

Local residents are also voicing complaints that those who caused the re-election should be held accountable.

In response, an election commission official said, "Currently, under election law, the local government bears the costs," and "To change this, related laws must be amended."

Meanwhile, the Yeonggwang-gun Election Commission will hold a briefing session for preliminary candidates for the Yeonggwang-gun county governor by-election on the 22nd. Candidate registration is scheduled for September 26?27, and the main election will be held on October 16.