The prosecution has decided to appeal the first trial verdict for Kim Moonsu, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Suncheon, Gwangyang, Gokseong, and Gurye-gap in South Jeolla Province, who was indicted for publishing the results of an internal opinion poll.
According to the legal community on the 13th, the Suncheon branch of the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office submitted an appeal on the grounds of an unfair sentence.
On the 9th, in the first trial, Kim was sentenced to a fine of 900,000 won for violating the Public Official Election Act, which is below the threshold for election annulment.
Under the Public Official Election Act, if a person is fined 1 million won or more and the sentence is finalized, their right to run for office is suspended for five years.
The prosecution had previously demanded a fine of 3 million won for Kim.
Kim was indicted for posting on Facebook on January 9 last year, ahead of the general election, indirectly disclosing the results of an internal opinion poll.
In the post, Kim hinted at the relatively high preference shown in the internal poll results by saying "I knew it," and attached a graph from a September 2023 broadcast station poll that showed similar results.
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