Changwon Mayor's Election Law Violation Appeal Ends Without Hearing ... 2 Out of 3 Witnesses Absent

Three Consecutive Trials Scheduled in August, Eight Witnesses Summoned

The second appellate trial for Nam-pyo Hong, the Mayor of Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam, on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act was held at 3 p.m. on the 10th.

The Changwon Panel of the Busan High Court planned to question three witnesses related to the case on this day, but as two of them did not appear, the court concluded that the questioning could not proceed and ended the session as scheduled.

The court then scheduled three additional trial dates and decided to summon all eight witnesses, including the three originally scheduled for questioning on this day and five others, for examination at the next session.

Among the absent witnesses was Jang Donghwa, former head of the Changwon Industry Promotion Agency, who had submitted a statement verifying facts related to the case during the first trial. Jang reportedly did not appear due to health reasons.

Hong Nampyo, mayor of Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam, is heading to the courtroom building of the Changwon branch of the Busan High Court to attend the appeal trial.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

Previously, Mayor Hong was brought to trial on charges of conspiring with Mr. A, who was the chief of the election campaign headquarters during last year's nationwide local elections, to promise a public office position to Mr. B, who intended to run in the People Power Party's Changwon mayoral primary, in exchange for joining the campaign.

Mr. A was indicted on charges of conspiring with Mayor Hong to offer Mr. B a public office position in exchange for joining the campaign as a preliminary candidate.

Mr. B, who filed the complaint against the two, is also on trial for accepting the offer to join Mayor Hong's campaign and agreeing to the promised public office position.

The court of first instance acquitted Mayor Hong, sentenced Mr. A to six months in prison, and gave Mr. B a four-month prison sentence suspended for one year.

The next appellate hearings are scheduled for August 10 at 10 a.m., August 23 at 10 a.m., and August 28 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.