Park Sangdon, mayor of Cheonan in South Chungcheong Province, who was brought to trial on charges including mobilizing public officials for electioneering during the 2022 local elections, has received a final suspended prison sentence. As a sentence of at least 1 million won in fines has been finalized, Mayor Park will lose his position as mayor.
The 2024 Cheonan K-Culture Expo successfully concluded, attracting 310,000 visitors over five days. Park Sangdon, mayor of Cheonan, visited the city hall briefing room on the 27th to announce the expo's achievements.
On April 24, the Supreme Court's Third Division (presiding justice Eom Sangpil) upheld the lower court's ruling, which sentenced Mayor Park, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act, to six months in prison with a two-year suspension. If an elected official is convicted of violating the Public Official Election Act in connection with the election in which they were elected and receives a sentence of at least 1 million won in fines, their election is invalidated and they lose their office.
Mayor Park was indicted on charges of using the public officials' organization to produce election campaign videos during the 2022 local elections and uploading them to his personal YouTube account, among other electioneering activities. He was also accused of announcing false information during the election by stating in preliminary candidate promotional materials and election brochures that Cheonan's employment rate was the second highest in the nation and its unemployment rate was the lowest nationwide.
The first trial acquitted Mayor Park, but the appeals court found him guilty and sentenced him to one year in prison with a two-year suspension, which is a sentence that invalidates his election.
The Supreme Court found Mayor Park guilty of using the public officials' organization for electioneering but acquitted him of the charge of announcing false information, and in September last year, remanded the case to the Daejeon High Court.
Following the Supreme Court's ruling, the retrial on remand in January sentenced Mayor Park to six months in prison with a two-year suspension. Although this was a partial reduction compared to the sentence in the second trial, he was still unable to avoid the suspended prison sentence that invalidates his election.
Mayor Park appealed again, but the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal on this day.
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