Cheonan Mayor Park Sangdon Ahead of Supreme Court Ruling: "Will Take Measures to Prevent Administrative Vacancies"

"Transfer Handover Document to Vice Mayor Before Sentencing Day"

From the left, Park Sangdon, Mayor of Cheonan, and Kim Seokpil, Deputy Mayor.

Park Sangdon, the mayor of Cheonan, stated on the 7th, "Considering that change is inevitable according to the Supreme Court's final decision, I will take measures to ensure that there is no negative impact on city administration."

On this day, Mayor Park, accompanied by Vice Mayor Kim Seokpil, visited the city hall briefing room to hold a press conference in celebration of Newspaper Day and made these remarks.

He said, "The date for the Supreme Court's ruling regarding my personal situation has been set," and added, "I believe various factors such as legal issues and insufficient deliberation were taken into account."

He continued, "Considering that change is inevitable according to the Supreme Court's final decision, I will take measures to ensure that there is no negative impact on city administration," and explained, "If I step down, the vice mayor will serve as acting mayor."

He went on to say, "Since I do not know what the verdict will be, I plan to prepare a handover document and pass it on to the vice mayor by the 24th, the day before the ruling, so that the vice mayor can continue administration without disruption," and added, "We are taking steps to minimize organizational unrest and to demonstrate that it is the organization, not individuals, that carries out the work."

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has scheduled the sentencing for Mayor Park's retrial for 11:15 a.m. on the 24th.

He is accused of using his official position to campaign during the 8th nationwide local elections in 2022.

The appellate court, taking into account the Supreme Court's acquittal on the charge of spreading false information, overturned the original sentence of 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspended sentence, and reduced it to 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspended sentence.

If an elected official is confirmed guilty of this charge and receives a fine of 1 million won or more, they will lose their position.