"Moon Jae-in, Lee Jae-myung Should All Be Killed"... 70-Year-Old Man Fined for Verbal Abuse and Assault on Ahn Kyu-baek's Election Staff

Allegations of Violating the Public Official Election Act

A man in his 70s who verbally abused and assaulted an election staff member of Ahn Gyu-baek, the Democratic Party candidate during the 22nd National Assembly election, was sentenced to a fine.

The Criminal Division 11 of the Seoul Northern District Court (Chief Judge Lee Dong-sik) announced on the 19th that Mr. A (76), who was tried for violating the Public Official Election Act, was sentenced to a fine of 5 million won.

Mr. A is accused of assaulting B (63) and C (49), election staff members of Ahn Gyu-baek, the Democratic Party candidate for Dongdaemun-gu Gap in Seoul, on March 29 in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul.

At the time, Mr. A was heard saying, "Why are you making noise here?" and cursed, "Ahn Gyu-baek, Moon Jae-in, Lee Jae-myung should all be killed," while stabbing the placards hung around the necks of the election staff with a long umbrella he was holding and swinging the umbrella.

The court explained the sentencing reason, stating, "Assaulting election staff members with an umbrella during election campaigning is not a minor offense, considering the legislative intent of the Public Official Election Act to protect the freedom of elections beyond personal legal interests. Although it cannot be seen that there was an intention to influence the election results, the fact that the defendant has a history of violent crimes was taken into account."