Supreme Court Confirms Nullification of Cheonan Mayor Park Sangdon's Election for Public Official Election Act Violation

Supreme Court Upholds Six-Month Prison Sentence
with Two-Year Suspension

On January 17, Mayor Park was leaving the courtroom after the retrial sentencing.

The nullification of Cheonan Mayor Park Sangdon's election was confirmed on April 24.

The Supreme Court dismissed Mayor Park's final appeal on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and upheld the original ruling, which sentenced him to six months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence.

According to the Public Official Election Act, elected officials lose their positions if they receive a confirmed sentence of a fine of 1 million won or more. As a result, Mayor Park will lose his position as mayor.

Mayor Park was brought to trial on charges of using his official position to campaign during the 8th nationwide local elections in 2022, and for publishing false information by omitting population criteria when listing Cheonan's unemployment and employment rates in election materials.

The first trial court acquitted him of these charges, but the appellate court found that Mayor Park had neglected his duty to verify the accuracy of the information and sentenced him to one year and six months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence.

However, the Supreme Court found that Mayor Park had not been aware of the omission of the population criteria and remanded the case to the Daejeon High Court for partial acquittal. In the retrial, his sentence was reduced to six months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence.

Meanwhile, on March 10 and 19, Mayor Park filed a request with the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the Public Official Election Act, arguing that it contains unconstitutional elements.

If the Constitutional Court rules in his favor before next year's local elections, there is a possibility that Mayor Park could temporarily return to office.