Violation of the Public Official Election Act
Fined 900,000 Won in First and Second Trials
Kim Moonsoo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who was brought to trial on charges of publicly disclosing the results of an internal opinion poll ahead of the 22nd National Assembly elections, will retain his seat as a lawmaker.
On September 4, the Supreme Court's Second Division (Presiding Justice Park Youngjae) upheld the lower court's ruling, finalizing a fine of 900,000 won for Kim, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act.
Kim was indicted for posting on Facebook on January 9 last year, ahead of the general elections, a message that indirectly disclosed the results of his own opinion poll. He attached a graph from a September 2023 broadcast opinion poll that showed similar results to his own and wrote, "As expected, the results turned out that way. You can refer to the graph."
Both the first and second trials found Kim guilty, but determined that his actions did not have a significant impact on the election, sentencing him to a fine of 900,000 won. Lawmakers lose their seats if they are convicted of violating the Public Official Election Act and receive a finalized sentence of a fine of 1 million won or more.
On this day, the Supreme Court also dismissed the appeal, stating, "There was no violation of the rules of logic and experience, nor any misunderstanding of the legal principles regarding the establishment of the crime of violating the Public Official Election Act in the lower court's judgment."
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