Supreme Court Confirms Election Nullification Sentence for Lee Wansik, Chungnam Provincial Assembly Member... Loss of Assembly Seat

Indicted for Violation of Public Official Election Act
Attempted to Give 500,000 Won in Cash to Constituents

Lee Wan-sik, a member of the Chungnam Provincial Assembly who was prosecuted for attempting to give money and goods to voters, has been confirmed to receive a sentence that nullifies his election.

Supreme Court

According to the legal community on the 7th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Lee Suk-yeon) confirmed on the 5th the original court ruling that sentenced Assemblyman Lee to a fine of 2 million won for violating the Public Official Election Act.

Assemblyman Lee was indicted for providing food worth about 38,000 won to candidate A, who ran in the party primary for Dangjin City Council in Chungnam about a month before the 2022 local elections, and A's spouse, and for attempting to give money to candidate A. A local party association official who dined with Assemblyman Lee separately called out candidate A and gave him 500,000 won in cash, asking for support for Assemblyman Lee, but candidate A refused and returned the money, according to the investigation.

Both the first and second trial courts sentenced him to a fine of 2 million won. In June, the Supreme Court overturned the appellate court's ruling, citing procedural violations, and sent the case back to the Daejeon High Court. However, the retrial also resulted in a fine of 2 million won. Subsequently, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on the 5th, finalizing the sentence.

According to the Public Official Election Act, elected officials lose their positions if they are sentenced to a fine of 1 million won or more. Unaware of this fact, former Assemblyman Lee attended the 1st plenary session of the 356th regular meeting held on the afternoon of the 5th, delivering a five-minute speech on the topic of "The need for fair progress in the Songak intercity bus terminal project," and also attended the administrative audit of the Construction and Transportation Bureau by the Construction and Fire Committee on the morning of the 6th.

Former Assemblyman Lee explained, "I have not yet received formal notification," and said, "I attended the administrative audit and other events without knowing that I had lost my position as an assemblyman."