Changwon Mayor By-election Not to Be Held in June ... National Election Commission: "To Be Conducted Separately from Presidential Election"

National Election Commission. Photo by Moon Honam

The National Election Commission has announced that the by-election for the Changwon Special Mayor in Gyeongnam, which became vacant after the elected official was disqualified due to a violation of the Public Official Election Act, will not be held together with the upcoming presidential election.

On the 8th, the National Election Commission stated in an official document that by-elections and re-elections for heads of local governments, whose reasons for holding the election have been confirmed after March 1 of this year, will not be conducted simultaneously with the 21st presidential election scheduled for June 3.

According to Article 35, Paragraph 1, Items (b) and (c) of the Public Official Election Act, by-elections and re-elections for heads of local governments, where the reason for holding the election is confirmed between September 1 of the previous year and the end of February, are to be held on the first Wednesday of April. If the reason is confirmed between March 1 and August 31, the election is held on the first Wednesday of October.

Additionally, Article 201, Paragraph 1 of the Public Official Election Act stipulates that a by-election may not be held if the remaining term from the election date to the expiration of the term is less than one year.

Previously, former Changwon Mayor Hong Nam-pyo was brought to trial on charges of conspiring with Mr. A, who was the head of his election campaign at the time, to offer a public office to Mr. B, who was planning to run in the party primary ahead of the 2022 nationwide local elections, in exchange for joining the campaign.

He was indicted on November 30, 2022, and after about one year and two months, was acquitted in the first trial on February 8, 2024. However, after the prosecution appealed, he was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for one year, in the second trial on December 18 of the same year, about nine months later.

Under the Public Official Election Act, if an elected public official is confirmed to have violated the act and is sentenced to imprisonment or a fine of 1 million won or more, their election is invalidated.

Depending on the Supreme Court's decision and the National Election Commission's ruling, Changwon city administration will be operated under the authority of the First Deputy Mayor until the next 9th local election.