Park Kyung-gwi, the mayor of Asan, Chungnam, who was prosecuted for disseminating false information related to real estate transactions of an opposing candidate during the 2022 local elections, has been sentenced to a fine of 15 million won.
According to Article 264 of the Public Official Election Act, which invalidates an election if the elected candidate is sentenced to a fine of 1 million won or more for violating the Public Official Election Act in the election year, Mayor Park has lost his mayoral position.
On the 8th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Oh Seok-jun) upheld the original court ruling that sentenced Mayor Park to a fine of 15 million won for violating the Public Official Election Act.
The court stated the reason for dismissing Mayor Park's appeal, saying, "There is no error in the original court's judgment for failing to conduct necessary hearings, violating the rules of logic and experience, exceeding the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misunderstanding the legal principles regarding the establishment of the crime of disseminating false information under Article 250, Paragraph 2 of the Public Official Election Act and the specification of the charges."
In May 2022, ahead of the 8th nationwide simultaneous local elections, Mayor Park was indicted in November 2022 for raising suspicions of real estate speculation against former Asan Mayor Oh Se-hyun, his opponent, through press releases in the form of statements, thereby disseminating false information.
Mayor Park drafted a statement claiming that former Mayor Oh had falsely sold a building to conceal assets and distributed it to the media. After the content was reported, he also sent the article link via text messages to his supporters.
The courts of first and second instance found Mayor Park guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 15 million won.
In January, the Supreme Court overturned and remanded the ruling due to procedural issues, but the Daejeon High Court re-examined the case and imposed the same fine of 15 million won.
At that time, the court stated, "The defendant was involved in drafting and distributing statements containing false information and was aware of the falsity of the article content at least before distributing the text messages," adding, "There is no substantial reason to believe that the defendant genuinely believed the content to be true."
Mayor Park appealed again, but the Supreme Court found no error in the judgment of the remand trial.
According to the Public Official Election Act, a by-election to fill Mayor Park's vacancy will be held in April next year.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
