Reported to Election Commission for Alleged Violation of Election Law
Election Commission: "Given to Only One Child Without Voting Rights"
"Verbal Warning Issued as the Matter Is Minor"
A stock photo related to the issue of Lee Junseok's mother giving rice cakes to a child. YouTube by Heo Euna
The National Election Commission has issued a ruling regarding the mother of Lee Junseok, the presidential candidate for the Reform Party, who handed out rice cakes to a child at a campaign rally site.
According to Financial News on May 27, the Seoul Metropolitan Election Commission, under the National Election Commission, sent a response on May 25 to complainant A, who had requested an investigation and referral for prosecution regarding "the alleged illegal donation by the mother of Reform Party presidential candidate Lee Junseok at a campaign rally." The response stated, "We inform you that after investigating the matter, we have issued a verbal warning to the violator."
Complainant A stated that on May 23, "On May 21, a video showing the candidate's mother making a donation was released on various online communities and YouTube channels. As soon as I saw it, I reported it to the National Election Commission." The video mentioned by A showed Lee Junseok's mother at his official campaign rally, appearing to appeal for support for her son. Lee Junseok's mother personally handed a rice cake to a child attending the rally and took commemorative photos with voters at the site.
A raised an issue with the rice cake offering, citing Article 114 of the Public Official Election Act. Article 114 (Restrictions on Donation Acts by Family Members of Political Parties and Candidates), Paragraph 1, stipulates that a candidate's family "shall not make any donations for the candidate or the political party to which the candidate belongs."
In particular, if a candidate's family provides food or other material benefits during the campaign period, they are subject to criminal penalties (up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won) under Article 257 (Crimes of Prohibited or Restricted Donations, etc.), Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 1 of the same law.
In response, the Election Commission launched an investigation and requested an explanation from Lee Junseok's camp. The candidate's side explained, "On the day of the first presidential debate, supporters came to cheer near the broadcasting station. There was a child who had come with their parents and stayed until late, so Lee's mother gave the child a rice cake as a token of gratitude, not knowing it was a violation of the law."
The Election Commission stated, "Since the report came in through YouTube videos and blogs, we could only verify the facts through the Lee Junseok camp. As it was not distributed to others and was given to only one young child who does not have voting rights, we judged the matter to be minor."
The Commission added, "We informed the Lee Junseok camp that this was a violation of the election law and received a promise to prevent recurrence. We reached the same conclusion for other reports on the same incident."
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